Laser eye surgery system calibration

ABSTRACT

The amount of energy to provide optical breakdown can be determined based on mapped optical breakdown thresholds of the treatment volume, and the laser energy can be adjusted in response to the mapped breakdown thresholds. The mapping of threshold energies can be combined with depth and lateral calibration in order to determine the location of optical breakdown along the laser beam path for an amount of energy determined based on the mapping. The mapping can be used with look up tables to determine mapped locations from one reference system to another reference system.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 61/722,064, filed Nov. 2, 2012.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates generally to photodisruption induced by apulsed laser beam and the location of the photodisruption so as to treata material, such as a tissue of an eye. Although specific reference ismade to cutting tissue for surgery such as eye surgery, embodiments asdescribed herein can be used in many ways with many materials to treatone or more of many materials, such as cutting of optically transparentmaterials.

Cutting of materials can be done mechanically with chisels, knives,scalpels and other tools such as surgical tools. However, prior methodsand apparatus of cutting can be less than desirable and provide lessthan ideal results in at least some instances. For example, at leastsome prior methods and apparatus for cutting materials such as tissuemay provide a somewhat rougher surface than would be ideal. Pulsedlasers can be used to cut one or more of many materials and have beenused for laser surgery to cut tissue.

Examples of surgically tissue cutting include cutting the cornea andcrystalline lens of the eye. The lens of the eye can be cut to correct adefect of the lens, for example to remove a cataract, and the tissues ofthe eye can be cut to access the lens. For example the cornea can be toaccess the cataractous lens. The cornea can be cut in order to correct arefractive error of the eye, for example with laser assisted in situkeratomileusis (hereinafter “LASIK”).

Many patients may have visual errors associated with the refractiveproperties of the eye such as nearsightedness, farsightedness andastigmatism. Astigmatism may occur when the corneal curvature is unequalin two or more directions. Nearsightedness can occur when light focusesbefore the retina, and farsightedness can occur with light refracted toa focus behind the retina. There are numerous prior surgical approachesfor reshaping the cornea, including laser assisted in situkeratomileusis (hereinafter “LASIK”), all laser LASIK, femto LASIK,corneaplasty, astigmatic keratotomy, corneal relaxing incision(hereinafter “CRI”), and Limbal Relaxing Incision (hereinafter “LRI”).Astigmatic Keratotomy, Corneal Relaxing Incision (CRI), and LimbalRelaxing Incision (LRI), corneal incisions are made in a well-definedmanner and depth to allow the cornea to change shape to become morespherical.

Cataract extraction is a frequently performed surgical procedure. Acataract is formed by opacification of the crystalline lens of the eye.The cataract scatters light passing through the lens and may perceptiblydegrade vision. A cataract can vary in degree from slight to completeopacity. Early in the development of an age-related cataract the powerof the lens may increase, causing near-sightedness (myopia). Gradualyellowing and opacification of the lens may reduce the perception ofblue colors as those shorter wavelengths are more strongly absorbed andscattered within the cataractous crystalline lens. Cataract formationmay often progresses slowly resulting in progressive vision loss.

A cataract treatment may involve replacing the opaque crystalline lenswith an artificial intraocular lens (IOL), and an estimated 15 millioncataract surgeries per year are performed worldwide. Cataract surgerycan be performed using a technique termed phacoemulsification in whichan ultrasonic tip with associated irrigation and aspiration ports isused to sculpt the relatively hard nucleus of the lens to facilitateremoval through an opening made in the anterior lens capsule. Thenucleus of the lens is contained within an outer membrane of the lensthat is referred to as the lens capsule. Access to the lens nucleus canbe provided by performing an anterior capsulotomy in which a small roundhole can be formed in the anterior side of the lens capsule. Access tothe lens nucleus can also be provided by performing a manual continuouscurvilinear capsulorhexis (CCC) procedure. After removal of the lensnucleus, a synthetic foldable intraocular lens (TOL) can be insertedinto the remaining lens capsule of the eye.

Prior short pulse laser systems have been used to cut tissue, and havebeen used to treat many patients. The short pulses have a temporalduration that is short enough to provide optical breakdown with plasmaformation to cut tissue. These laser systems rely on very accurateplacement of the pulses, and a patient interface may be employed toalign the laser with tissue. However, the prior patient interfaces canbe somewhat cumbersome for users and may result in increased intraocularpressure in at least some instances, and it would be helpful to providetreatments quickly with less reliance on the patient interface.Variability of the tissue location where optical breakdown occurs mayresult in tissue cutting that may be somewhat rougher than would beideal in at least some instances. Work in relation to the presentdisclosure suggests that prior methods and apparatus used to treatmaterials such as tissue can use in greater amounts of energy than wouldbe ideal and have less accuracy of the location of optical breakdownthan would be ideal. Also, exposure to the treatment beam andultraviolet light resulting from optical breakdown can be greater thanwould be ideal in at least some instances. Laser cutting of thecataractous lens can result in the formation of gas bubbles that mayinterfere with the cutting of subsequent pulses, and treatments with gasformation may result in less complete cutting of the lens tissue thanwould be ideal.

Some of the prior patient interfaces may provide less than ideal resultsin at least some instances. Prior patient interfaces that place a flatplate on the eye can alter the shape of the cornea and may result indistortion of the cornea and increases in intraocular pressure. Curvedpatient interfaces that contact the cornea may result in folds of thecornea that may interfere with cutting of tissue, such as lens tissue inat least some instances. Also, the treatment range over which such priorsystems can effectively cut tissue with optical breakdown can be lessthan ideal in at least some instances.

Some of the prior optical coherence tomography (OCT) systems can provideless than ideal results when combined with a patient interface. Forexample, work in relation with the present disclosure suggests that atleast some of the optical surfaces of the prior patient interfaces caninterfere with at least some of the prior OCT measurements of the eye inat least some instances.

Thus, improved methods and systems would be helpful for treatingmaterials with laser beams, such as the surgical cutting of tissue totreat cataracts and refractive errors of the eye.

SUMMARY

Embodiments as described herein provide improved treatment of materialssuch as tissue. The amount of energy to provide optical breakdown in atreatment volume can be varied in accordance with a location of thepulse within the treatment volume, which can provide improved accuracyof the location of optical breakdown along the laser beam path,decreased exposure to the laser beam, decreased gas formation, anddecreased ultraviolet light from the optical breakdown. The amount ofenergy to provide optical breakdown can be determined based on mappedoptical breakdown thresholds of the treatment volume, and the laserenergy can be adjusted in response to the mapped breakdown thresholds.The mapping of threshold energies can be combined with depth and lateralcalibration in order to determine the location of optical breakdownalong the laser beam path for an amount of energy determined based onthe mapping. In many embodiments, the threshold mapping can be performedbefore the depth and lateral calibration and the depth and lateralcalibration performed based on the mapped threshold energies over thetreatment volume. The mapping can be used with look up tables todetermine mapped locations from one reference system to anotherreference system, such as from the eye coordinate reference system to alaser coordinate system reference system comprising one or more movablescanning components of the laser system. The methods and apparatus asdescribed herein can be combined with one or more of many patientinterfaces, including patient interfaces that contact the cornea with aflat or curved anterior surface, so as to provide an improved patienttreatment.

In many embodiments, a patient interface comprises an opticallytransmissive structure, such as a lens or a flat plate, which can beplaced a distance from the cornea so as to inhibit deformation of thecornea during treatment. The optically transmissive structure placedapart from the cornea may provide improved imaging with OCT or video,and can be combined with the ultrafast laser so as to provide anextended range over which optical breakdown can be produced within atreatment region. In many embodiments, the optically transmissivestructure of the patient interface comprises a lens so as to extend therange of optical breakdown treatment within the eye when the lens isspaced apart from the anterior surface of the cornea and coupled to theobjective lenses of the laser delivery system.

The improved methods and apparatus for laser calibration can provideimproved accuracy of the cutting of tissue, such as cuts into the corneafor refractive treatment of the cornea and access of the cornea forcataract surgery. With refractive cutting of the corneal tissue, the cutmay extend at least about eighty percent of the thickness of the cornea,and the improved accuracy of optical breakdown along the laser beam pathcan provide improved refractive and access cuts to the corneal tissue.The accuracy of cuts within one or more of the structures of the lenscan be similarly improved.

In a first aspect, embodiments provide a method of treating an eye. Themethod comprises mapping a plurality of laser beam focus locationscomprising coordinate locations of a laser delivery system. A treatmenttable is generated, in which the treatment table comprises a pluralityof target locations of the eye. The plurality of target locations of theeye is adjusted based on the mapped plurality of laser beam focuslocations so as to treat the eye at the plurality of target locationswith the laser delivery system.

In another aspect, embodiments provide an apparatus to treat an eye. Theapparatus comprises a laser to generate a pulsed laser beam, and anoptical delivery system coupled to the laser. A processor is coupled tothe laser and the optical delivery system. The processor is configuredto generate a treatment table comprising a plurality of target locationsof the eye and adjust the plurality of target locations of the eye inresponse to a mapped plurality of laser beam focus locations.

In another aspect, embodiments provide a method of treating an eye. Themethod comprises determining a plurality of threshold amounts of laserbeam energy to induce optical breakdown at a plurality of laser beamlocations. A treatment table is generated comprising a plurality oftarget locations of the eye. The laser beam pulse energy at theplurality of target locations is adjusted in response to the pluralityof threshold amounts.

In another aspect, embodiments provide an apparatus to treat an eye, theapparatus comprises a pulsed laser to generate pulses of light energyand an optical delivery system coupled to the laser. A processor iscoupled to the laser and the optical delivery system. The processor isconfigured to generate a treatment table comprising a plurality oftarget locations of the eye and adjust the laser beam pulse energy atthe plurality of target locations in response to the plurality ofthreshold amounts.

In another aspect, embodiments provide a method of treating an eye witha laser. The method comprises determining a threshold amount of outputpulse energy of the laser to provide optical breakdown within the eye.The output pulse energy of the laser is adjusted below the thresholdamount. Optical breakdown is provided within the eye with output pulseenergy adjusted below the threshold amount.

In another aspect, embodiments provide an apparatus to treat an eye. Theapparatus comprises a laser to generate a plurality of laser beam pulsesand an optical delivery system to deliver the plurality of laser beampulses to a plurality of locations of the eye. A processor is coupled tothe laser and the optical delivery system. The processor is configuredto determine a threshold amount of output pulse energy of the laser toprovide optical breakdown within the eye and adjust the output pulseenergy of the laser below the threshold amount in order to provideoptical breakdown within the eye.

In another aspect, embodiments provide an apparatus to treat an eye. Theapparatus comprises a laser to generate a plurality of laser beampulses. An optical delivery system comprises a movable lens to focus theplurality of laser beam pulses to a plurality of depth locations of theeye. A patient interface is configured to couple the optical deliverysystem to the eye. The patient interface comprises an interface lenshaving an anterior surface and a convexly curved posterior surface. Aprocessor is configured to adjust the movable lens to maintain focus ofthe laser beam pulses based on measured locations of the interface lensand mapped locations of the eye.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view showing a laser eye surgery system, inaccordance with many embodiments;

FIG. 2 shows a simplified block diagram showing a top level view of theconfiguration of a laser eye surgery system, in accordance with manyembodiments;

FIG. 3A shows a simplified block diagram illustrating the configurationof an optical assembly of a laser eye surgery system, in accordance withmany embodiments;

FIG. 3B shows a mapped treatment region of the eye comprising thecornea, the posterior capsule, and the limbus, in accordance with manyembodiments;

FIG. 3C shows mapped changes in beam focus for locations of the mappedtreatment region, in accordance with many embodiments;

FIG. 4A shows correspondence among movable and sensor components of thelaser delivery system, in accordance with many embodiments;

FIG. 4B shows mapping of coordinate references from an eye spacecoordinate reference system to a machine coordinate reference system, inaccordance with many embodiments;

FIG. 4C shows a feedback loop to adjust look up table calibrationmapping from a generalized system to a specific individual constructedsystem based on measurements of the individual constructed system, inaccordance with many embodiments;

FIG. 5 shows a method of calibration for a laser system, in accordancewith many embodiments;

FIG. 6 shows an eye coordinate reference system referenced to a lowersurface of an optically transmissive structure of a patient interface,in accordance with many embodiments;

FIG. 7A shows a look up table summary for an ultrafast laser, inaccordance with many embodiments;

FIG. 7A1 shows an optical schematic of the components corresponding tothe look up table summary of FIG. 7A;

FIG. 7A2 shows input and output of the look up table as in FIGS. 7A and7A1;

FIG. 7A3 shows structure and excerpt of a look up table as in FIGS. 7Ato 7A2;

FIG. 7B shows a look up table summary for an optical coherencetomography system, in accordance with many embodiments;

FIG. 7B1 shows an optical schematic of the components corresponding tothe look up table summary of FIG. 7B;

FIG. 7B2 shows input and output of the look up table as in FIGS. 7B and7B 1;

FIG. 7B3 shows structure and excerpt of the look up table as in FIGS. 7Bto 7B2;

FIG. 7C shows a look up table summary for a video camera, in accordancewith many embodiments;

FIG. 7C1 shows an optical schematic of the components corresponding tothe look up table of FIG. 7C;

FIG. 7C2 shows the input and output of the look up table as in FIGS. 7Cand 7C1;

FIG. 7C3 shows structure and excerpt of the look up table as in FIGS. 7Cto 7C2;

FIG. 8 shows a calibration apparatus to measure and map opticalbreakdown locations along the laser beam path, in accordance with manyembodiments;

FIG. 9A shows a map of deviation in depth from the expected plane asmeasured by optical breakdown at a plurality of locations of the opticalbeam path corresponding to a plane near a vertex of a cornea, inaccordance with many embodiments;

FIG. 9B shows a map of deviation in depth from the expected plane asmeasured by of optical breakdown at a plurality of locations of theoptical beam corresponding to a plane intersecting a cornea between avertex of the cornea and an limbus of the eye, in accordance with manyembodiments;

FIG. 9C shows a map of deviation in depth from the expected plane asmeasured by optical breakdown at a plurality of locations of the opticalbeam corresponding to a plane intersecting a peripheral portion of thecornea located near the limbus of the eye, in accordance with manyembodiments;

FIG. 9D shows error coefficients to be applied as calibrationcorresponding to depth errors over a treatment volume based on themeasurements of FIGS. 9A to 9C, in accordance with many embodiments;

FIG. 10A shows verification of the correction or calibration based oncorrection of the error coefficients as in FIG. 9D, in accordance withmany embodiments;

FIG. 10B shows error coefficients corresponding to depth correctionsover a treatment volume, in accordance with many embodiments;

FIG. 11 shows a method of cutting tissue in response to threshold energymapping, in accordance with many embodiments;

FIG. 12 shows an apparatus to map energy thresholds of a laser system,in accordance with many embodiments;

FIG. 13A shows mapped threshold energies corresponding to thresholdenergies along a plane anterior to an eye, in accordance with manyembodiments;

FIG. 13B shows mapped threshold energies corresponding to a planeintersecting a cornea of an eye, in accordance with many embodiments;and

FIG. 13C shows mapped threshold energies corresponding to a plane near aposterior lens capsule, in accordance with many embodiments;

FIG. 14 shows a method of measuring alignment of a laser system, inaccordance with many embodiments;

FIG. 15A shows a test pattern to measure alignment of laser system, inaccordance with many embodiments;

FIG. 15B shows a test eye to measure alignment and energy of the lasersystem, in accordance with many embodiments; and

FIG. 16 shows a method of treating a patient, in accordance with manyembodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Methods and systems related to laser eye surgery are disclosed. In manyembodiments, a laser is used to form precise incisions in the cornea, inthe lens capsule, and/or in the crystalline lens nucleus. Althoughspecific reference is made to tissue retention for laser eye surgery,embodiments as described herein can be used in one or more of many wayswith many surgical procedures and devices, such as orthopedic surgery,robotic surgery and microkeratomes.

The embodiments as describe herein are particularly well suited fortreating tissue, such as with the surgical treatment of tissue. In manyembodiments, the tissue comprises an optically transmissive tissue, suchas tissue of an eye. The embodiments as described herein can be combinedin many ways with one or more of many known surgical procedures such ascataract surgery, laser assisted in situ keratomileusis (hereinafter“LASIK”), or laser assisted subepithelial keratectomy (hereinafter“LASEK”).

Methods and systems related to laser treatment of materials and whichcan be used with eye surgery such as laser eye surgery are disclosed. Alaser may be used to form precise incisions in the cornea, in the lenscapsule, and/or in the crystalline lens nucleus, for example. Theembodiments as described herein can be particularly well suited fordecreasing the amount of energy to the eye and increasing the accuracyof the cutting of the material such as tissue, for example.

The present disclosure provides methods and apparatus for providingadjustment to compensate for variations in disposable elements and otherattachments, tolerances in hardware and alignment, and patient anatomy.The methods and apparatus may comprise a software look up table(hereinafter “LUT”) embodied in a tangible medium. The LUT may comprisea map of locations of the cutting volume in order to adjust the controlof actuators that direct the ranging (target detection) and the cuttingmodalities. A baseline LUT can be generated for a generalized systemusing optical based rules and physics, detailed modeling of components,and anchoring (one time) to a finite data set as described herein. Theexpected variations can be reduced into a set of finite and manageablevariables that are applied to modify the tables subsequent to theoriginal generation of the tables. For a constructed system havingconstructed components with manufacturing tolerances, fine tuning andmodification of the LUTs can be achieved through simple modifications ofthe tables based on individual system and automated measurements. Theseindividualized measurements of a constructed system can be applied tovariations due to one or more of: tool-to-tool variation, tool to itselfvariation (for example align variations), output attachment variations(for example disposable contact lenses), or patient to patient (forexample individual patient anatomy), and combinations thereof, forexample.

In many embodiments, one or more of the following steps can be performedwith the processor and methods as described herein. For example,baseline LUT generation can be performed comprising mapping and positiondetection in order to provide actuator commands to evaluate systemoutput performance. A baseline transfer function can be generated for apatient coordinate reference system such as XYZ to detect actuators ofthe system, for example. Baseline LUT generation can be performed to mapcutting to actuators. A transfer function can be generated for XYZ tocutting actuators, for example. Baseline LUTs (transfer functions) canbe generated via model (ray trace), data, or a combination, for example.The baseline LUTs can be modified given variations in the system,disposable, eye, application, for example. The baseline LUT modificationmay comprise an adjustment to the baseline LUT, for example. Thebaseline LUT modification may comprise a software (hereinafter “SW”)adjustment to compensate for hardware (hereinafter “HW”) variations, forexample. The LUT modification as described herein can extend surgicalvolume, so as to treat the cornea, the limbus and the posterior capsule,either in lateral extent, axial extent, and resolution, for example. TheLUT methods and apparatus can enable switching in tools for calibrationand other optical components to accessorize—output attachments, forexample. The LUT can be set up so that the system is capable ofmeasuring location of attachments at two surfaces and then canaccurately place cuts in targeted material volume based on modifying thebaseline LUT using this the locations of the two surfaces, for example.The LUTS can provide more cuts ranging from lens, capsule, cornealincisions for cataract, cornea flaps, for example. The differentsub-systems as described herein can have separate LUTS, which can becombined with calibration process as described herein, for example.

Alternatively, or in combination, the same sub-system can be used forboth ranging and cutting, for example. The ultrafast (hereinafter “UP”)system can be used at a low power level to find surfaces and then usedat high power for cutting, for example. The LUTs can be used such thatthe location mode differs from the cutting mode. For example, the cutlocations can differ based on changes with power level. The cut locationmay not occur at focus, for example when the energy per pulsesubstantially exceeds the threshold amount of energy, for example.

In many embodiments, the LUTs of the methods and apparatus as describedherein follow these principles. The baseline LUT can generated by raytracing and data anchoring using specific tooling, for example. In manyembodiments, each optically transmissive structure of the patientinterface, for example a lens, is read by the system to determine itsthickness and location. These numbers can be used to modify the LUTS toattain <100 um accuracy, for example.

In many embodiments, the LUTs of the methods and apparatus as describedherein are also modified to account for alignment tilts, contact lensmounting, contact lens variations so as to achieve <100 um accuracy oncuts, for example. In many embodiments, a bubbles in plastic flatnesstest with the calibration apparatus as described herein generates offsetand tilt adjustments of baseline UF LUT.

In many embodiments, the baseline component specifications may be lessthan ideal for delivering an appropriate system performance, and thefinal performance can be refined using SW corrections and factors basedon the components of the individual system which can be determined fromoptically-grounded data-anchored baseline LUTs further modified forenhanced performance, for example.

A feedback loop can be used to build the enhanced or modified LUTs forthe individual laser system, for example. The feedback methods andapparatus as described herein can allow SW adjustments based on LUTs andother SW factors that may not be corrected with hardware alignment, forexample.

The LUTs and the methods and apparatus configured to modify the look uptables so as to enhance system performance can provide an improvementwithin the 3D surgical volume as described herein. The methods andapparatus as described herein can provide improved surgery for morepatients with a level of high performance. The methods and apparatus asdescribed herein can provide high performance using off-the-shelfcomponents, such as high volume low cost components, such that thesurgical procedures as described herein can be available to manypatients.

As used herein, the terms anterior and posterior refers to knownorientations with respect to the patient. Depending on the orientationof the patient for surgery, the terms anterior and posterior may besimilar to the terms upper and lower, respectively, such as when thepatient is placed in a supine position on a bed. The terms distal andanterior may refer to an orientation of a structure from the perspectiveof the user, such that the terms proximal and distal may be similar tothe terms anterior and posterior when referring to a structure placed onthe eye, for example. A person of ordinary skill in the art willrecognize many variations of the orientation of the methods andapparatus as described herein, and the terms anterior, posterior,proximal, distal, upper, and lower are used merely by way of example.

As used herein, the terms first and second are used to describestructures and methods without limitation as to the order of thestructures and methods which can be in any order, as will be apparent toa person of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings providedherein.

FIG. 1 shows a laser eye surgery system 2, in accordance with manyembodiments, operable to form precise incisions in the cornea, in thelens capsule, and/or in the crystalline lens nucleus. The system 2includes a main unit 4, a patient chair 6, a dual function footswitch 8,and a laser footswitch 10.

The main unit 4 includes many primary subsystems of the system 2. Forexample, externally visible subsystems include a touch-screen controlpanel 12, a patient interface assembly 14, patient interface vacuumconnections 16, a docking control keypad 18, a patient interface radiofrequency identification (RFID) reader 20, external connections 22(e.g., network, video output, footswitch, USB port, door interlock, andAC power), laser emission indicator 24, emergency laser stop button 26,key switch 28, and USB data ports 30.

The patient chair 6 includes a base 32, a patient support bed 34, aheadrest 36, a positioning mechanism, and a patient chair joystickcontrol 38 disposed on the headrest 36. The positioning controlmechanism is coupled between the base 32 and the patient support bed 34and headrest 36. The patient chair 6 is configured to be adjusted andoriented in three axes (x, y, and z) using the patient chair joystickcontrol 38. The headrest 36 and a restrain system (not shown, e.g., arestraint strap engaging the patient's forehead) stabilize the patient'shead during the procedure. The headrest 36 includes an adjustable necksupport to provide patient comfort and to reduce patient head movement.The headrest 36 is configured to be vertically adjustable to enableadjustment of the patient head position to provide patient comfort andto accommodate variation in patient head size.

The patient chair 6 allows for tilt articulation of the patient's legs,torso, and head using manual adjustments. The patient chair 6accommodates a patient load position, a suction ring capture position,and a patient treat position. In the patient load position, the chair 6is rotated out from under the main unit 4 with the patient chair back inan upright position and patient footrest in a lowered position. In thesuction ring capture position, the chair is rotated out from under themain unit 4 with the patient chair back in reclined position and patientfootrest in raised position. In the patient treat position, the chair isrotated under the main unit 4 with the patient chair back in reclinedposition and patient footrest in raised position.

The patient chair 6 is equipped with a “chair enable” feature to protectagainst unintended chair motion. The patient chair joystick 38 can beenabled in either of two ways. First, the patient chair joystick 38incorporates a “chair enable” button located on the top of the joystick.Control of the position of the patient chair 6 via the joystick 38 canbe enabled by continuously pressing the “chair enable” button.Alternately, the left foot switch 40 of the dual function footswitch 8can be continuously depressed to enable positional control of thepatient chair 6 via the joystick 38.

In many embodiments, the patient control joystick 38 is a proportionalcontroller. For example, moving the joystick a small amount can be usedto cause the chair to move slowly. Moving the joystick a large amountcan be used to cause the chair to move faster. Holding the joystick atits maximum travel limit can be used to cause the chair to move at themaximum chair speed. The available chair speed can be reduced as thepatient approaches the patient interface assembly 14.

The emergency stop button 26 can be pushed to stop emission of all laseroutput, release vacuum that couples the patient to the system 2, anddisable the patient chair 6. The stop button 26 is located on the systemfront panel, next to the key switch 28.

The key switch 28 can be used to enable the system 2. When in a standbyposition, the key can be removed and the system is disabled. When in aready position, the key enables power to the system 2.

The dual function footswitch 8 is a dual footswitch assembly thatincludes the left foot switch 40 and a right foot switch 42. The leftfoot switch 40 is the “chair enable” footswitch. The right footswitch 42is a “vacuum ON” footswitch that enables vacuum to secure a liquidoptics interface suction ring to the patient's eye. The laser footswitch10 is a shrouded footswitch that activates the treatment laser whendepressed while the system is enabled.

In many embodiments, the system 2 includes external communicationconnections. For example, the system 2 can include a network connection(e.g., an RJ45 network connection) for connecting the system 2 to anetwork. The network connection can be used to enable network printingof treatment reports, remote access to view system performance logs, andremote access to perform system diagnostics. The system 2 can include avideo output port (e.g., HDMI) that can be used to output video oftreatments performed by the system 2. The output video can be displayedon an external monitor for, for example, viewing by family membersand/or training. The output video can also be recorded for, for example,archival purposes. The system 2 can include one or more data outputports (e.g., USB) to, for example, enable export of treatment reports toa data storage device. The treatments reports stored on the data storagedevice can then be accessed at a later time for any suitable purposesuch as, for example, printing from an external computer in the casewhere the user without access to network based printing.

FIG. 2 shows a simplified block diagram of the system 2 coupled with apatient eye 43. The patient eye 43 comprises a cornea 43C, a lens 43Land an iris 431 as depicted in FIG. 3. The iris 431 defines a pupil ofthe eye 43 that may be used for alignment of eye 43 with system 2. Thesystem 2 includes a cutting laser subsystem 44, a ranging subsystem 46,an alignment guidance system 48, shared optics 50, a patient interface52, control electronics 54, a control panel/GUI 56, user interfacedevices 58, and communication paths 60. The control electronics 54 isoperatively coupled via the communication paths 60 with the cuttinglaser subsystem 44, the ranging subsystem 46, the alignment guidancesubsystem 48, the shared optics 50, the patient interface 52, thecontrol panel/GUI 56, and the user interface devices 58.

In many embodiments, the cutting laser subsystem 44 incorporatesfemtosecond (FS) laser technology. By using femtosecond lasertechnology, a short duration (e.g., approximately 10⁻¹³ seconds induration) laser pulse (with energy level in the micro joule range) canbe delivered to a tightly focused point to disrupt tissue, therebysubstantially lowering the energy level required as compared to thelevel required for ultrasound fragmentation of the lens nucleus and ascompared to laser pulses having longer durations.

The cutting laser subsystem 44 can produce laser pulses having awavelength suitable to the configuration of the system 2. As anon-limiting example, the system 2 can be configured to use a cuttinglaser subsystem 44 that produces laser pulses having a wavelength from1020 nm to 1050 nm. For example, the cutting laser subsystem 44 can havea diode-pumped solid-state configuration with a 1030 (+/−5) nm centerwavelength.

The cutting laser subsystem 44 can include control and conditioningcomponents. For example, such control components can include componentssuch as a beam attenuator to control the energy of the laser pulse andthe average power of the pulse train, a fixed aperture to control thecross-sectional spatial extent of the beam containing the laser pulses,one or more power monitors to monitor the flux and repetition rate ofthe beam train and therefore the energy of the laser pulses, and ashutter to allow/block transmission of the laser pulses. Suchconditioning components can include an adjustable zoom assembly to adaptthe beam containing the laser pulses to the characteristics of thesystem 2 and a fixed optical relay to transfer the laser pulses over adistance while accommodating laser pulse beam positional and/ordirectional variability, thereby providing increased tolerance forcomponent variation.

The ranging subsystem 46 is configured to measure the spatialdisposition of eye structures in three dimensions. The measured eyestructures can include the anterior and posterior surfaces of thecornea, the anterior and posterior portions of the lens capsule, theiris, and the limbus. In many embodiments, the ranging subsystem 46utilizes OCT imaging. As a non-limiting example, the system 2 can beconfigured to use an OCT imaging system employing wavelengths from 780nm to 970 nm. For example, the ranging subsystem 46 can include an OCTimaging system that employs a broad spectrum of wavelengths from 810 nmto 850 nm. Such an OCT imaging system can employ a reference path lengththat is adjustable to adjust the effective depth in the eye of the OCTmeasurement, thereby allowing the measurement of system componentsincluding features of the patient interface that lie anterior to thecornea of the eye and structures of the eye that range in depth from theanterior surface of the cornea to the posterior portion of the lenscapsule and beyond.

The alignment guidance subsystem 48 can include a laser diode or gaslaser that produces a laser beam used to align optical components of thesystem 2. The alignment guidance subsystem 48 can include LEDs or lasersthat produce a fixation light to assist in aligning and stabilizing thepatient's eye during docking and treatment. The alignment guidancesubsystem 48 can include a laser or LED light source and a detector tomonitor the alignment and stability of the actuators used to positionthe beam in X, Y, and Z. The alignment guidance subsystem 48 can includea video system that can be used to provide imaging of the patient's eyeto facilitate docking of the patient's eye 43 to the patient interface52. The imaging system provided by the video system can also be used todirect via the GUI the location of cuts. The imaging provided by thevideo system can additionally be used during the laser eye surgeryprocedure to monitor the progress of the procedure, to track movementsof the patient's eye 43 during the procedure, and to measure thelocation and size of structures of the eye such as the pupil and/orlimbus.

The shared optics 50 provides a common propagation path that is disposedbetween the patient interface 52 and each of the cutting laser subsystem44, the ranging subsystem 46, and the alignment guidance subsystem 48.In many embodiments, the shared optics 50 includes beam combiners toreceive the emission from the respective subsystem (e.g., the cuttinglaser subsystem 44, and the alignment guidance subsystem 48) andredirect the emission along the common propagation path to the patientinterface. In many embodiments, the shared optics 50 includes anobjective lens assembly that focuses each laser pulse into a focalpoint. In many embodiments, the shared optics 50 includes scanningmechanisms operable to scan the respective emission in three dimensions.For example, the shared optics can include an XY-scan mechanism(s) and aZ-scan mechanism. The XY-scan mechanism(s) can be used to scan therespective emission in two dimensions transverse to the propagationdirection of the respective emission. The Z-scan mechanism can be usedto vary the depth of the focal point within the eye 43. In manyembodiments, the scanning mechanisms are disposed between the laserdiode and the objective lens such that the scanning mechanisms are usedto scan the alignment laser beam produced by the laser diode. Incontrast, in many embodiments, the video system is disposed between thescanning mechanisms and the objective lens such that the scanningmechanisms do not affect the image obtained by the video system.

The patient interface 52 is used to restrain the position of thepatient's eye 43 relative to the system 2. In many embodiments, thepatient interface 52 employs a suction ring that is vacuum attached tothe patient's eye 43. The suction ring is then coupled with the patientinterface 52, for example, using vacuum to secure the suction ring tothe patient interface 52. In many embodiments, the patient interface 52includes an optically transmissive structure having a posterior surfacethat is displaced vertically from the anterior surface of the patient'scornea and a region of a suitable liquid (e.g., a sterile bufferedsaline solution (BSS) such as Alcon BSS (Alcon Part Number 351-55005-1)or equivalent) is disposed between and in contact with the patientinterface lens posterior surface and the patient's cornea and forms partof a transmission path between the shared optics 50 and the patient'seye 43. The optically transmissive structure may comprise a lens 96having one or more curved surfaces. Alternatively, the patient interface22 may comprise an optically transmissive structure having one or moresubstantially flat surfaces such as a parallel plate or wedge. In manyembodiments, the patient interface lens is disposable and can bereplaced at any suitable interval, such as before each eye treatment.

The control electronics 54 controls the operation of and can receiveinput from the cutting laser subsystem 44, the ranging subsystem 46, thealignment guidance subsystem 48, the patient interface 52, the controlpanel/GUI 56, and the user interface devices 58 via the communicationpaths 60. The communication paths 60 can be implemented in any suitableconfiguration, including any suitable shared or dedicated communicationpaths between the control electronics 54 and the respective systemcomponents. The control electronics 54 can include any suitablecomponents, such as one or more processor, one or morefield-programmable gate array (FPGA), and one or more memory storagedevices. In many embodiments, the control electronics 54 controls thecontrol panel/GUI 56 to provide for pre-procedure planning according touser specified treatment parameters as well as to provide user controlover the laser eye surgery procedure.

The user interface devices 58 can include any suitable user input devicesuitable to provide user input to the control electronics 54. Forexample, the user interface devices 58 can include devices such as, forexample, the dual function footswitch 8, the laser footswitch 10, thedocking control keypad 18, the patient interface radio frequencyidentification (RFID) reader 20, the emergency laser stop button 26, thekey switch 28, and the patient chair joystick control 38.

FIG. 3A is a simplified block diagram illustrating an assembly 62, inaccordance with many embodiments, that can be included in the system 2.The assembly 62 is a non-limiting example of suitable configurations andintegration of the cutting laser subsystem 44, the ranging subsystem 46,the alignment guidance subsystem 48, the shared optics 50, and thepatient interface 52. Other configurations and integration of thecutting laser subsystem 44, the ranging subsystem 46, the alignmentguidance subsystem 48, the shared optics 50, and the patient interface52 may be possible and may be apparent to a person of skill in the art.

The assembly 62 is operable to project and scan optical beams into thepatient's eye 43. The cutting laser subsystem 44 includes an ultrafast(UF) laser 64 (e.g., a femtosecond laser). Using the assembly 62,optical beams can be scanned in the patient's eye 43 in threedimensions: X, Y, Z. For example, short-pulsed laser light generated bythe UF laser 64 can be focused into eye tissue to produce dielectricbreakdown to cause photodisruption around the focal point (the focalzone), thereby rupturing the tissue in the vicinity of the photo-inducedplasma. In the assembly 62, the wavelength of the laser light can varybetween 800 nm to 1200 nm and the pulse width of the laser light canvary from 10 fs to 10000 fs. The pulse repetition frequency can alsovary from 10 kHz to 500 kHz. Safety limits with regard to unintendeddamage to non-targeted tissue bound the upper limit with regard torepetition rate and pulse energy. Threshold energy, time to complete theprocedure, and stability can bound the lower limit for pulse energy andrepetition rate. The peak power of the focused spot in the eye 43 andspecifically within the crystalline lens and the lens capsule of the eyeis sufficient to produce optical breakdown and initiate aplasma-mediated ablation process. Near-infrared wavelengths for thelaser light are preferred because linear optical absorption andscattering in biological tissue is reduced for near-infraredwavelengths. As an example, the laser 64 can be a repetitively pulsed1031 nm device that produces pulses with less than 600 fs duration at arepetition rate of 120 kHz (+/−5%) and individual pulse energy in the 1to 20 micro joule range.

The cutting laser subsystem 44 is controlled by the control electronics54 and the user, via the control panel/GUI 56 and the user interfacedevices 58, to create a laser pulse beam 66. The control panel/GUI 56 isused to set system operating parameters, process user input, displaygathered information such as images of ocular structures, and displayrepresentations of incisions to be formed in the patient's eye 43.

The generated laser pulse beam 66 proceeds through a zoom assembly 68.The laser pulse beam 66 may vary from unit to unit, particularly whenthe UF laser 64 may be obtained from different laser manufacturers. Forexample, the beam diameter of the laser pulse beam 66 may vary from unitto unit (e.g., by +/−20%). The beam may also vary with regard to beamquality, beam divergence, beam spatial circularity, and astigmatism. Inmany embodiments, the zoom assembly 68 is adjustable such that the laserpulse beam 66 exiting the zoom assembly 68 has consistent beam diameterand divergence unit to unit.

After exiting the zoom assembly 68, the laser pulse beam 66 proceedsthrough an attenuator 70. The attenuator 70 is used to adjust thetransmission of the laser beam and thereby the energy level of the laserpulses in the laser pulse beam 66. The attenuator 70 is controlled viathe control electronics 54.

After exiting the attenuator 70, the laser pulse beam 66 proceedsthrough an aperture 72. The aperture 72 sets the outer useful diameterof the laser pulse beam 66. In turn the zoom determines the size of thebeam at the aperture location and therefore the amount of light that istransmitted. The amount of transmitted light is bounded both high andlow. The upper is bounded by the requirement to achieve the highestnumerical aperture achievable in the eye. High NA promotes low thresholdenergies and greater safety margin for untargeted tissue. The lower isbound by the requirement for high optical throughput. Too muchtransmission loss in the system shortens the lifetime of the system asthe laser output and system degrades over time. Additionally,consistency in the transmission through this aperture promotes stabilityin determining optimum settings (and sharing of) for each procedure.Typically to achieve optimal performance the transmission through thisaperture as set to be between 88% to 92%.

After exiting the aperture 72, the laser pulse beam 66 proceeds throughtwo output pickoffs 74. Each output pickoff 74 can include a partiallyreflecting mirror to divert a portion of each laser pulse to arespective output monitor 76. Two output pickoffs 74 (e.g., a primaryand a secondary) and respective primary and secondary output monitors 76are used to provide redundancy in case of malfunction of the primaryoutput monitor 76.

After exiting the output pickoffs 74, the laser pulse beam 66 proceedsthrough a system-controlled shutter 78. The system-controlled shutter 78ensures on/off control of the laser pulse beam 66 for procedural andsafety reasons. The two output pickoffs precede the shutter allowing formonitoring of the beam power, energy, and repetition rate as apre-requisite for opening the shutter.

After exiting the system-controlled shutter 78, the optical beamproceeds through an optics relay telescope 80. The optics relaytelescope 80 propagates the laser pulse beam 66 over a distance whileaccommodating positional and/or directional variability of the laserpulse beam 66, thereby providing increased tolerance for componentvariation. As an example, the optical relay can be a keplerian afocaltelescope that relays an image of the aperture position to a conjugateposition near to the XY galvo mirror positions. In this way, theposition of the beam at the XY galvo location is invariant to changes inthe beams angle at the aperture position. Similarly the shutter does nothave to precede the relay and may follow after or be included within therelay.

After exiting the optics relay telescope 80, the laser pulse beam 66 istransmitted to the shared optics 50, which propagates the laser pulsebeam 66 to the patient interface 52. The laser pulse beam 66 is incidentupon a beam combiner 82, which reflects the laser pulse beam 66 whiletransmitting optical beams from the ranging subsystem 46 and thealignment guidance subsystem: AIM 48.

Following the beam combiner 82, the laser pulse beam 66 continuesthrough a Z-telescope 84, which is operable to scan focus position ofthe laser pulse beam 66 in the patient's eye 43 along the Z axis. Forexample, the Z-telescope 84 can include a Galilean telescope with twolens groups (each lens group includes one or more lenses). One of thelens groups moves along the Z axis about the collimation position of theZ-telescope 84. In this way, the focus position of the spot in thepatient's eye 43 moves along the Z axis. In general, there is arelationship between the motion of lens group and the motion of thefocus point. For example, the Z-telescope can have an approximate 2×beam expansion ratio and close to a 1:1 relationship of the movement ofthe lens group to the movement of the focus point. The exactrelationship between the motion of the lens and the motion of the focusin the Z axis of the eye coordinate system does not have to be a fixedlinear relationship. The motion can be nonlinear and directed via amodel or a calibration from measurement or a combination of both.Alternatively, the other lens group can be moved along the Z axis toadjust the position of the focus point along the Z axis. The Z-telescope84 functions as a Z-scan device for scanning the focus point of thelaser-pulse beam 66 in the patient's eye 43. The Z-telescope 84 can becontrolled automatically and dynamically by the control electronics 54and selected to be independent or to interplay with the X- and Y-scandevices described next.

After passing through the Z-telescope 84, the laser pulse beam 66 isincident upon an X-scan device 86, which is operable to scan the laserpulse beam 66 in the X direction, which is dominantly transverse to theZ axis and transverse to the direction of propagation of the laser pulsebeam 66. The X-scan device 86 is controlled by the control electronics54, and can include suitable components, such as a motor, galvanometer,or any other well known optic moving device. The relationship of themotion of the beam as a function of the motion of the X actuator doesnot have to be fixed or linear. Modeling or calibrated measurement ofthe relationship or a combination of both can be determined and used todirect the location of the beam.

After being directed by the X-scan device 86, the laser pulse beam 66 isincident upon a Y-scan device 88, which is operable to scan the laserpulse beam 66 in the Y direction, which is dominantly transverse to theX and Z axes. The Y-scan device 88 is controlled by the controlelectronics 54, and can include suitable components, such as a motor,galvanometer, or any other well known optic moving device. Therelationship of the motion of the beam as a function of the motion ofthe Y actuator does not have to be fixed or linear. Modeling orcalibrated measurement of the relationship or a combination of both canbe determined and used to direct the location of the beam.Alternatively, the functionality of the X-scan device 86 and the Y-scandevice 88 can be provided by an XY-scan device configured to scan thelaser pulse beam 66 in two dimensions transverse to the Z axis and thepropagation direction of the laser pulse beam 66. The X-scan and Y-scandevices 86, 88 change the resulting direction of the laser pulse beam66, causing lateral displacements of UF focus point located in thepatient's eye 43.

After being directed by the Y-scan device 88, the laser pulse beam 66passes through a beam combiner 90. The beam combiner 90 is configured totransmit the laser pulse beam 66 while reflecting optical beams to andfrom a video subsystem 92 of the alignment guidance subsystem 48.

After passing through the beam combiner 90, the laser pulse beam 66passes through an objective lens assembly 94. The objective lensassembly 94 can include one or more lenses. In many embodiments, theobjective lens assembly 94 includes multiple lenses. The complexity ofthe objective lens assembly 94 may be driven by the scan field size, thefocused spot size, the degree of telecentricity, the available workingdistance on both the proximal and distal sides of objective lensassembly 94, as well as the amount of aberration control.

After passing through the objective lens assembly 94, the laser pulsebeam 66 passes through the patient interface 52. As described above, inmany embodiments, the patient interface 52 includes a patient interfacelens 96 having a posterior surface that is displaced vertically from theanterior surface of the patient's cornea and a region of a suitableliquid (e.g., a sterile buffered saline solution (BSS) such as Alcon BSS(Alcon Part Number 351-55005-1) or equivalent) is disposed between andin contact with the posterior surface of the patient interface lens 96and the patient's cornea and forms part of an optical transmission pathbetween the shared optics 50 and the patient's eye 43.

The shared optics 50 under the control of the control electronics 54 canautomatically generate aiming, ranging, and treatment scan patterns.Such patterns can be comprised of a single spot of light, multiple spotsof light, a continuous pattern of light, multiple continuous patterns oflight, and/or any combination of these. In addition, the aiming pattern(using the aim beam 108 described below) need not be identical to thetreatment pattern (using the laser pulse beam 66), but can optionally beused to designate the boundaries of the treatment pattern to provideverification that the laser pulse beam 66 will be delivered only withinthe desired target area for patient safety. This can be done, forexample, by having the aiming pattern provide an outline of the intendedtreatment pattern. This way the spatial extent of the treatment patterncan be made known to the user, if not the exact locations of theindividual spots themselves, and the scanning thus optimized for speed,efficiency, and/or accuracy. The aiming pattern can also be made to beperceived as blinking in order to further enhance its visibility to theuser. Likewise, the ranging beam 102 need not be identical to thetreatment beam or pattern. The ranging beam needs only to be sufficientenough to identify targeted surfaces. These surfaces can include thecornea and the anterior and posterior surfaces of the lens and may beconsidered spheres with a single radius of curvature. Also the opticsshared by the alignment guidance: video subsystem does not have to beidentical to those shared by the treatment beam. The positioning andcharacter of the laser pulse beam 66 and/or the scan pattern the laserpulse beam 66 forms on the eye 43 may be further controlled by use of aninput device such as a joystick, or any other appropriate user inputdevice (e.g., control panel/GUI 56) to position the patient and/or theoptical system.

The control electronics 54 can be configured to target the targetedstructures in the eye 43 and ensure that the laser pulse beam 66 will befocused where appropriate and not unintentionally damage non-targetedtissue. Imaging modalities and techniques described herein, such asthose mentioned above, or ultrasound may be used to determine thelocation and measure the thickness of the lens and lens capsule toprovide greater precision to the laser focusing methods, including 2Dand 3D patterning. Laser focusing may also be accomplished by using oneor more methods including direct observation of an aiming beam, or otherknown ophthalmic or medical imaging modalities, such as those mentionedabove, and/or combinations thereof. Additionally the ranging subsystemsuch as an OCT can be used to detect features or aspects involved withthe patient interface. Features can include fiducials placed on thedocking structures and optical structures of the disposable lens such asthe location of the anterior and posterior surfaces.

In the embodiment of FIG. 3A, the ranging subsystem 46 includes an OCTimaging device. Additionally or alternatively, imaging modalities otherthan OCT imaging can be used. An OCT scan of the eye can be used tomeasure the spatial disposition (e.g., three dimensional coordinatessuch as X, Y, and Z of points on boundaries) of structures of interestin the patient's eye 43. Such structure of interest can include, forexample, the anterior surface of the cornea, the posterior surface ofthe cornea, the anterior portion of the lens capsule, the posteriorportion of the lens capsule, the anterior surface of the crystallinelens, the posterior surface of the crystalline lens, the iris, thepupil, and/or the limbus. The spatial disposition of the structures ofinterest and/or of suitable matching geometric modeling such as surfacesand curves can be generated and/or used by the control electronics 54 toprogram and control the subsequent laser-assisted surgical procedure.The spatial disposition of the structures of interest and/or of suitablematching geometric modeling can also be used to determine a wide varietyof parameters related to the procedure such as, for example, the upperand lower axial limits of the focal planes used for cutting the lenscapsule and segmentation of the lens cortex and nucleus, and thethickness of the lens capsule among others.

The ranging subsystem 46 in FIG. 3A includes an OCT light source anddetection device 98. The OCT light source and detection device 98includes a light source that generates and emits light with a suitablebroad spectrum. For example, in many embodiments, the OCT light sourceand detection device 98 generates and emits light with a broad spectrumfrom 810 nm to 850 nm wavelength. The generated and emitted light iscoupled to the device 98 by a single mode fiber optic connection.

The light emitted from the OCT light source and detection device 98 ispassed through a beam combiner 100, which divides the light into asample portion 102 and a reference portion 104. A significant portion ofthe sample portion 102 is transmitted through the shared optics 50. Arelative small portion of the sample portion is reflected from thepatient interface 52 and/or the patient's eye 43 and travels backthrough the shared optics 50, back through the beam combiner 100 andinto the OCT light source and detection device 98. The reference portion104 is transmitted along a reference path 106 having an adjustable pathlength. The reference path 106 is configured to receive the referenceportion 104 from the beam combiner 100, propagate the reference portion104 over an adjustable path length, and then return the referenceportion 106 back to the beam combiner 100, which then directs thereturned reference portion 104 back to the OCT light source anddetection device 98. The OCT light source and detection device 98 thendirects the returning small portion of the sample portion 102 and thereturning reference portion 104 into a detection assembly, which employsa time domain detection technique, a frequency detection technique, or asingle point detection technique. For example, a frequency-domaintechnique can be used with an OCT wavelength of 830 nm and bandwidth of10 nm.

Once combined with the UF laser pulse beam 66 subsequent to the beamcombiner 82, the OCT sample portion beam 102 follows a shared path withthe UF laser pulse beam 66 through the shared optics 50 and the patientinterface 52. In this way, the OCT sample portion beam 102 is generallyindicative of the location of the UF laser pulse beam 66. Similar to theUF laser beam, the OCT sample portion beam 102 passes through theZ-telescope 84, is redirected by the X-scan device 86 and by the Y-scandevice 88, passes through the objective lens assembly 94 and the patientinterface 52, and on into the eye 43. Reflections and scatter off ofstructures within the eye provide return beams that retrace back throughthe patient interface 52, back through the shared optics 50, backthrough the beam combiner 100, and back into the OCT light source anddetection device 98. The returning back reflections of the sampleportion 102 are combined with the returning reference portion 104 anddirected into the detector portion of the OCT light source and detectiondevice 98, which generates OCT signals in response to the combinedreturning beams. The generated OCT signals that are in turn interpretedby the control electronics to determine the spatial disposition of thestructures of interest in the patient's eye 43. The generated OCTsignals can also be interpreted by the control electronics to measurethe position and orientation of the patient interface 52, as well as todetermine whether there is liquid disposed between the posterior surfaceof the patient interface lens 96 and the patient's eye 43.

The OCT light source and detection device 98 works on the principle ofmeasuring differences in optical path length between the reference path106 and the sample path. Therefore, different settings of theZ-telescope 84 to change the focus of the UF laser beam do not impactthe length of the sample path for a axially stationary surface in theeye of patient interface volume because the optical path length does notchange as a function of different settings of the Z-telescope 84. Theranging subsystem 46 has an inherent Z range that is related to lightsource and the detection scheme, and in the case of frequency domaindetection the Z range is specifically related to the spectrometer, thewavelength, the bandwidth, and the length of the reference path 106. Inthe case of ranging subsystem 46 used in FIG. 3, the Z range isapproximately 4-5 mm in an aqueous environment. Extending this range toat least 20-25 mm involves the adjustment of the path length of thereference path 106 via a stage ZED within ranging subsystem 46. Passingthe OCT sample portion beam 102 through the Z-telescope 84, while notimpacting the sample path length, allows for optimization of the OCTsignal strength. This is accomplished by focusing the OCT sample portionbeam 102 onto the targeted structure. The focused beam both increasesthe return reflected or scattered signal that can be transmitted throughthe single mode fiber and increases the spatial resolution due to thereduced extent of the focused beam. The changing of the focus of thesample OCT beam can be accomplished independently of changing the pathlength of the reference path 106.

Because of the fundamental differences in how the sample portion 102(e.g., 810 nm to 850 nm wavelengths) and the UF laser pulse beam 66(e.g., 1020 nm to 1050 nm wavelengths) propagate through the sharedoptics 50 and the patient interface 52 due to influences such asimmersion index, refraction, and aberration, both chromatic andmonochromatic, care must be taken in analyzing the OCT signal withrespect to the UF laser pulse beam 66 focal location. A calibration orregistration procedure as a function of X, Y, and Z can be conducted inorder to match the OCT signal information to the UF laser pulse beamfocus location and also to the relative to absolute dimensionalquantities.

There are many suitable possibilities for the configuration of the OCTinterferometer. For example, alternative suitable configurations includetime and frequency domain approaches, single and dual beam methods,swept source, etc, are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,748,898; 5,748,352;5,459,570; 6,111,645; and 6,053,613.

The system 2 can be set to locate the anterior and posterior surfaces ofthe lens capsule and cornea and ensure that the OF laser pulse beam 66will be focused on the lens capsule and cornea at all points of thedesired opening. Imaging modalities and techniques described herein,such as for example, OCT), and such as Purkinje imaging, Scheimpflugimaging, confocal or nonlinear optical microscopy, fluorescence imaging,ultrasound, structured light, stereo imaging, or other known ophthalmicor medical imaging modalities and/or combinations thereof may be used todetermine the shape, geometry, perimeter, boundaries, and/or3-dimensional location of the lens and lens capsule and cornea toprovide greater precision to the laser focusing methods, including 2Dand 3D patterning. Laser focusing may also be accomplished using one ormore methods including direct observation of an aiming beam, or otherknown ophthalmic or medical imaging modalities and combinations thereof,such as but not limited to those defined above.

Optical imaging of the cornea, anterior chamber and lens can beperformed using the same laser and/or the same scanner used to producethe patterns for cutting. Optical imaging can be used to provideinformation about the axial location and shape (and even thickness) ofthe anterior and posterior lens capsule, the boundaries of the cataractnucleus, as well as the depth of the anterior chamber and features ofthe cornea. This information may then be loaded into the laser 3-Dscanning system or used to generate a three dimensionalmodel/representation/image of the cornea, anterior chamber, and lens ofthe eye, and used to define the cutting patterns used in the surgicalprocedure.

Observation of an aim beam can also be used to assist in positioning thefocus point of the UF laser pulse beam 66. Additionally, an aim beamvisible to the unaided eye in lieu of the infrared OCT sample portionbeam 102 and the UF laser pulse beam 66 can be helpful with alignmentprovided the aim beam accurately represents the infrared beamparameters. The alignment guidance subsystem 48 is included in theassembly 62 shown in FIG. 3. An aim beam 108 is generated by an aim beamlight source 110, such as a laser diode in the 630-650 nm range.

Once the aim beam light source 110 generates the aim beam 108, the aimbeam 108 is transmitted along an aim path 112 to the shared optics 50,where it is redirected by a beam combiner 114. After being redirected bythe beam combiner 114, the aim beam 108 follows a shared path with theUF laser pulse beam 66 through the shared optics 50 and the patientinterface 52. In this way, the aim beam 108 is indicative of thelocation of the UF laser pulse beam 66. The aim beam 108 passes throughthe Z-telescope 84, is redirected by the X-scan device 86 and by theY-scan device 88, passes through the beam combiner 90, passes throughthe objective lens assembly 94 and the patient interface 52, and on intothe patient's eye 43.

The video subsystem 92 is operable to obtain images of the patientinterface and the patient's eye. The video subsystem 92 includes acamera 116, an illumination light source 118, and a beam combiner 120.The video subsystem 92 gathers images that can be used by the controlelectronics 54 for providing pattern centering about or within apredefined structure. The illumination light source 118 can be generallybroadband and incoherent. For example, the light source 118 can includemultiple LEDs. The wavelength of the illumination light source 118 ispreferably in the range of 700 nm to 750 nm, but can be anything that isaccommodated by the beam combiner 90, which combines the light from theillumination light source 118 with the beam path for the UF laser pulsebeam 66, the OCT sample beam 102, and the aim beam 108 (beam combiner 90reflects the video wavelengths while transmitting the OCT and UFwavelengths). The beam combiner 90 may partially transmit the aim beam108 wavelength so that the aim beam 108 can be visible to the camera116. An optional polarization element can be disposed in front of theillumination light source 118 and used to optimize signal. The optionalpolarization element can be, for example, a linear polarizer, a quarterwave plate, a half-wave plate or any combination. An additional optionalanalyzer can be placed in front of the camera. The polarizer analyzercombination can be crossed linear polarizers thereby eliminatingspecular reflections from unwanted surfaces such as the objective lenssurfaces while allowing passage of scattered light from targetedsurfaces such as the intended structures of the eye. The illuminationmay also be in a dark-filed configuration such that the illuminationsources are directed to the independent surfaces outside the capturenumerical aperture of the image portion of the video system.Alternatively the illumination may also be in a bright fieldconfiguration. In both the dark and bright field configurations, theillumination light source can be used as a fixation beam for thepatient. The illumination may also be used to illuminate the patient'spupil to enhance the pupil iris boundary to facilitate iris detectionand eye tracking. A false color image generated by the near infraredwavelength or a bandwidth thereof may be acceptable.

The illumination light from the illumination light source 118 istransmitted through the beam combiner 120 to the beam combiner 90. Fromthe beam combiner 90, the illumination light is directed towards thepatient's eye 43 through the objective lens assembly 94 and through thepatient interface 94. The illumination light reflected and scattered offof various structures of the eye 43 and patient interface travel backthrough the patient interface 94, back through the objective lensassembly 94, and back to the beam combiner 90. At the beam combiner 90,the returning light is directed back to the beam combiner 120 where thereturning light is redirected toward the camera 116. The beam combinercan be a cube, plate or pellicle element. It may also be in the form ofa spider mirror whereby the illumination transmits past the outer extentof the mirror while the image path reflects off the inner reflectingsurface of the mirror. Alternatively, the beam combiner could be in theform of a scraper mirror where the illumination is transmitted through ahole while the image path reflects off of the mirrors reflecting surfacethat lies outside the hole. The camera 116 can be a suitable imagingdevice, for example but not limited to, any silicon based detector arrayof the appropriately sized format. A video lens forms an image onto thecamera's detector array while optical elements provide polarizationcontrol and wavelength filtering respectively. An aperture or irisprovides control of imaging NA and therefore depth of focus and depth offield and resolution. A small aperture provides the advantage of largedepth of field that aids in the patient docking procedure.Alternatively, the illumination and camera paths can be switched.Furthermore, the aim light source 110 can be made to emit infrared lightthat would not be directly visible, but could be captured and displayedusing the video subsystem 92.

FIG. 3B shows a mapped treatment region 182 (hatched area) of the eyecomprising the cornea 184, the posterior capsule 186, and the limbus188. The treatment region 182 can be mapped with computer modeling, forexample ray tracing and phased based optical modeling to incorporatefactors such as laser beam quality, pulse width, system transmission,numerical aperture, polarization, aberration correction, and alignment.The treatment volume 182 is shown extending along the Z-axis from theposterior surface of the optically transmissive structure of the patientinterface a distance of over 15 mm, such that the treatment volume 182includes the cornea 184, and the lens 190 in which the treatment volumeof the lens 190 includes the anterior capsule 192, the posterior capsule186, the nucleus and the cortex. The treatment volume 182 extendslaterally from the center of the cornea 184 to beyond the limbus 188.The lateral dimensions of the volume 182 are defined by a Y contour 194anterior to the limbus 188 and by an X contour 196 posterior to thelimbus 188. The treatment volume 182 shown can be determined by a personof ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings described herein.The lateral positions of predicted optical breakdown for ZL fixed to 30mm 198 and ZL fixed to 20 mm 199 are shown. These surfaces that extendtransverse to the axis 99 along the Z-dimension correspond to locationsof optical scanning of the X and Y galvos to provide optical breakdownat lateral locations away from the axis 99. The curved non-planar shapeof the scan path of optical breakdown for ZL-30 mm 198 and ZL-20 mm 199can be corrected with the mapping and LUTs as described herein. Thecurved shape of the focus can be referred to as a warping of the opticalbreakdown depth and the LUTs can be warped oppositely or otherwiseadjusted so as to compensate for the warping of the treatment depth, forexample. Additionally, the warping inherent in the prediction from themodel can be incorporated in the generic look-up table and any furthererror from this predicted form as indicated by measurement andapplication of a correction factor to offset this error may also becalled a warping of the look up table.

The treatment region 182 is shown for setting the laser beam energyabout four times the threshold amount for optical breakdown empiricallydetermined for a beam near the limbus of the system. The increasedenergy or margin above ensures that the beam system will be able totreat given variability in contributing factors. Theses contributingfactors may include degradation over lifetime of the laser with regardto energy, beam quality, transmission of the system, and alignment.

The placement of the posterior surface of the optically transmissivestructure of the patient interface away from the surface of the corneacan provide the extended treatment range as shown, and in manyembodiments the optically transmissive structure comprises the lens. Inalternative embodiments, the posterior surface of the opticallytransmissive structure can be placed on the cornea, for example, and themapping and LUTs as described herein can be used to provide the patienttreatment with improved accuracy.

The optically transmissive structure of the patient interface maycomprise one or more of many known optically transmissive materials usedto manufactures lenses, plates and wedges, for example one or more ofglass, BK-7, plastic, acrylic, silica or fused silica for example.

The computer mapping of the treatment volume 182 may optionally beadjusted with mapping based on measurements of a constructed system asdescribed herein.

FIG. 3C shows mapped changes in beam focus for locations of the mappedtreatment region 182. The locations of optical breakdown can be mappedat a plurality of depths and lateral locations so as to map the locationof optical breakdown over the treatment volume 182. The laser beam spotirradiance can be determined with computer modeling software, forexample. The location of optical breakdown can be determined based onthe laser beam spot irradiance pattern, such that the location ofoptical breakdown along the laser beam path can be determined. Theoptical breakdown for a given set of laser parameters such as beamquality and pulse width can occur at a combination of one or more ofpeak irradiance, spot shape, or polarization direction, for example. Themapped beam shape can be at planes of a treatment volume, for example.The mapped focus can be determined with commercially available opticalmodeling software based on the teachings described herein. The mappedchanges in beam focus may comprise a mapped focus at a depth of 8 mm onthe axis of the coordinate reference system, for example. Similarmapping can be performed at additional depths as described herein. Thefocused beam profile can be determined for the nominal location and +50um and −50 um, so as to evaluate the irradiance pattern to determine thelocation of optical breakdown. The focused beam profile can bedetermined at several locations along the plane away from the axis. Forexample, the beam profile can be determined at locations along a radiusof the treatment volume, such as at the 0, 45 and 90 degree locationsalong a 7 mm circle, for example.

In many embodiments, the laser beam output energy comprises a valuesubstantially above the amount required near the center of the treatmentvolume, for example four times the amount required at the center, so asto provide optical breakdown near the edges of the treatment volume, andthe location of optical breakdown can be determined based on the beamspot irradiance profile and the output energy of the laser. This mappingcan be performed initially in software, and may optionally be furtherrefined based on mapping measurements of a constructed system asdescribed herein.

FIG. 4A shows correspondence among movable and sensor components of thelaser delivery system 2. The movable components may comprise one or morecomponents of the laser delivery system 2 as described herein. Themovable components of the laser delivery system may comprise the zoomlens capable of moving distance ZL, the X galvo mirror 86 capable ofmoving an angular amount Xm, and the Y galvo minor 88 capable of movingan angular amount Ym. The movable components of the OCT system maycomprise the movable OCT reference arm configured to move the referencepath 106 a distance ZED. The sensor components of the laser system maycomprise the video camera 116 having X and Y pixels, Pix X and Pix Y,respectively, and sensor components of the OCT system such as thespectral domain detection as described herein. The patient support whichmay comprise a bed is movable in three dimensions so as to align the eye43 of the patient P with laser system 2 and axis 99 of the system. Thepatient interface assembly comprises an optically transmissive structurewhich may comprise an interface lens 96, for example, configured to bealigned with system 2 and an axis of eye 43. The patient interface lenscan be placed on the patient eye 43 for surgery, and the opticallytransmissive structure can be placed at a distance 162 from theobjective lens 94. In many embodiments, the optically transmissivestructure comprises lens 96 placed a contact lens optical distance 162(hereinafter “CLopt”). The optically transmissive structure comprises athickness 164, and the thickness 164 may comprise a thickness of thecontact lens 96, for example. Although the optically transmissivestructure comprising contact lens 96 may contact the eye 2, in manyembodiments the contact lens 96 is separated from the cornea with gap168 extending between the lens and the vertex of the cornea, such thatthe posterior surface of the contact lens 96 contacts a solutioncomprising saline or a viscoelastic solution, for example.

FIG. 4B shows mapping of coordinate references from an eye spacecoordinate reference system 150 to a machine coordinate reference system151 so as to coordinate the machine components with the physicallocations of the eye. The laser system 2 can map physical coordinates ofthe eye 43 to machine coordinates of the components as described herein.The eye space coordinate reference system 150 comprises a first Xdimension 152, for example an X axis, a second Y dimension 154, forexample a Y axis, and a third Z dimension 156, for example a Z axis, andthe coordinate reference system of the eye may comprise one or more ofmany known coordinate systems such as polar, cylindrical or Cartesian,for example. In many embodiments the reference system 150 comprises aright handed triple with the X axis oriented in a nasal temporaldirection on the patient, the Y axis oriented superiorly on the patientand the Z axis oriented posteriorly on the patient. In many embodiments,the corresponding machine coordinate reference system 151 comprises afirst X′ dimension 153, a second Y′ dimension 155, and a third Z′dimension 157 generally corresponding to machine actuators, and thecoordinate reference system of the machine may comprise one or more ofmany known coordinate systems such as polar, cylindrical or Cartesian,and combinations thereof, for example.

The machine coordinate reference 151 may correspond to locations of oneor more components of system 2. The machine coordinate reference system151 may comprise a plurality of machine coordinate reference systems.The plurality of machine coordinate reference systems may comprise acoordinate reference system for each subsystem, for example. Forexample, dimension 157 may correspond to movement of the Z-telescopelens capable of moving distance ZL. The dimension 153 may correspond tomovement of the X galvo mirror 86 capable of moving an angular amountXm, and the dimension 155 may correspond to movement of the Y galvomirror 88 capable of moving an angular amount Ym. Alternatively or incombination, the dimension 157 may correspond to movable OCT referencearm configured to move the reference path 106 a distance ZED, along withdimension 157 corresponding to a movement of the Z-telescope for the OCTbeam, and the dimension 153 and the dimension 155 may correspond tomovement of the X galvo mirror 86 and the Y galvo mirror 88,respectively, for the OCT beam. The dimension 151 may correspond to Xpixels of the video camera and dimension 153 may correspond to Y pixelsof the video camera. The axes of the machine coordinate reference systemmay be combined in one or more of many ways, for example the OCTreference arm movement of the reference path 106 the distance ZED can becombined with movement of the Z-telescope lens capable of moving thedistance ZL, for example. In many embodiments, the locations of thecomponents of the laser system 2 are combined when in order to map theplurality of machine coordinate reference systems to the coordinatereference system 150 of eye 43.

In many embodiments, the eye coordinate reference system 150 is mappedfrom an optical path length coordinate system to physical coordinates ofthe eye based on the index of refraction of the tissues of the eye. Anexample is the OCT ranging system where measurements are based onoptical thicknesses. The physical distance can be obtained by dividingthe optical path length by the index of refraction of the materialthrough which the light beam passes. Preferably the group refractiveindex is used and takes into account the group velocity of the lightwith a center wavelength and bandwidth and dispersion characteristics ofthe beam train. When the beam has passed through more than one material,the physical distance can be determined based on the optical path lengththrough each material, for example. The tissue structures of the eye andcorresponding index of refraction can be identified and the physicallocations of the tissue structures along the optical path determinedbased on the optical path length and the indices of refraction. When theoptical path length extends along more than one tissue, the optical pathlength for each tissue can be determined and divided by thecorresponding index of refraction so as to determine the physicaldistance through each tissue, and the distances along the optical pathcan be combined, for example with addition, so as to determine thephysical location of a tissue structure along the optical path length.Additionally, optical train characteristics may be taken into account.As the OCT beam is scanned in the X and Y directions and departure fromthe telecentric condition occurs due to the axial location of the galvomirrors, a distortion of the optical path length is realized. This iscommonly known as fan error and can be corrected for either throughmodeling or measurement.

As one or more optical components and light sources as described hereinmay have different path lengths, wavelengths, and spectral bandwidths,in many embodiments the group index of refraction used depends on thematerial and the wavelength and spectral bandwidth of the light beam. Inmany embodiments, the index of refraction along the optical path maychange with material. For example, the saline solution may comprise afirst index of refraction, the cornea may comprise a second index ofrefraction, the anterior chamber of the eye may comprise a third indexof refraction, and the eye may comprise gradient index lens having aplurality of indices of refraction. While optical path length throughthese materials is governed by the group index of refraction, refractionor bending of the beam is governed by the phase index of the material.Both the phase and group index can be taken into account to accuratelydetermine the X, Y, and Z location of a structure. While the index ofrefraction of tissue such as eye 43 can vary with wavelength asdescribed herein, approximate values include: aqueous humor 1.33; cornea1.38; vitreous humor 1.34; and lens 1.36 to 1.41, in which the index ofthe lens can differ for the capsule, the cortex and the nucleus, forexample. The phase index of refraction of water and saline can be about1.325 for the ultrafast laser at 1030 nm and about 1.328 for the OCTsystem at 830 nm. The group refractive index of 1.339 differs on theorder of 1% for the OCT beam wavelength and spectral bandwidth. A personof ordinary skill in the art can determine the indices of refraction andgroup indices of refraction of the tissues of the eye for thewavelengths of the measurement and treatment systems as describedherein. The index of refraction of the other components of the systemcan be readily determined by a person of ordinary skill in the art basedon the teachings described herein.

FIG. 4C shows a feedback loop 240 to adjust LUT calibration mapping froma generalized system having nominal values to a specific individualconstructed system based on measurements of the individual constructedsystem. The system 2 may comprise a generalized system 242 based onoptical schematics and components. The generalized system may comprisean optical design 244 as described herein, which can be associated withone or more of product code and scripts, merit functions, opticalspecifications, a nominal system design of the components and locations,and tolerances associated with the nominal system design components andlocations. In the execution of the system design, the optical design 244is output as optical components and specifications 246, which can beused to configured optical assemblies 248. The optical assemblies 248and components 246 are aligned. The generalized system design can befurther improved with feedback 250. The feedback 250 of the generalizedsystem design may comprise calibration tests 252 and optical modeling254 that are used to further improve and modify the optical design 244.For example, a system can be constructed based on the nominal design andinformation from the nominal design fed back to the optical design 244based on calibration and testing 252, such as tolerances of componentsand range of treatment. The nominal design of the general system can beused to generate a generalized LUT based on the nominal design. Thenominal LUTs and SW factors 256 can be used to produce a finalproduction system, and the final production system can undergo finaltest procedures 258.

In accordance with many embodiments, an enhanced customized system 2 canbe constructed based on the customized feedback path 260 so as toprovide a customized system 262. While the customized system 262 can beprovided in many ways, in many embodiments a production SW tool is usedto customize the parameters of individual system so as to provide anenhanced model 264 of system behavior and improved accuracy of themapping as described herein. The production SW tool can be used todetermine customized LUTs of the system 2, and to provide enhancedcalibration of system 2. The nominal values output from the generalizednominal system 242 at design execution stage can be output to the LUTsand software factors, which can be combined with the customized feedback260 to provide an enhanced product. The modification to the LUTs totransform the system 2 from the generalized nominal system to theconstructed system with customized parameters can be provided withcalibration of the constructed system as described herein.

FIG. 5 shows a method 300 of calibration for laser system 2. The lasersystem 2 can be calibrated such that positions and angles of thecomponents and actuators of the laser system are mapped onto locationsof the eye 43. The method 300 can be performed on each build of a lasersystem, and can be used to improve the accuracy of a specific lasersystem. In many embodiments, the system specific calibration can be usedto improve the correspondence between the treatment locations of the eyeand the machine coordinates as described herein. Although reference ismade to Z-axis alignment, similar methods and apparatus can be used toimprove the accuracy of the system along other dimensions, such as X andY dimensions, for example. Method 300 can be combined with opticalbreakdown threshold energy mapping as described herein, for example.Method 300 can be particularly well suited for calibration of the systemwith a first lens of the patient interface, in order to use a secondlens of the patient interface to treat the patient accurately. Aplurality of many additional patient interface lenses can be used basedon the alignment with the first lens, for example. The methods andapparatus can be used to determine specific laser treatment parametersfor a specific patient interface lens placed in the system for aspecific eye, for example.

At a step 305, values of Xm, Ym, and ZL (where Xm corresponds to theangle of the X galvo mirror, Ym corresponds to the angle of the Y galvomirror, and ZL corresponds to the movement of the lens in theZ-telescope) are determined within a treatment volume for the ultrafastfemto second laser so as to provide corresponding X, Y and Z locationsof the eye. The locations can be determined based on mapping and LUTs,for example. The mapped locations can depend on the location and shapeof the optically transmissive structure such as lens 96, the distance162, distance 164, and the distance 168, for example. The mappinglocations may also depend on the laser characteristics such as beamquality, pulse width, polarization, and energy per pulse. The mappinglocations may also depend on the characteristics of the optical systemsuch as axial magnification, lateral magnification, numerical aperture,degree of telecentricity, aberration, and alignment.

At a step 310, values of Xm, Ym, ZL and ZED (where Xm, Ym, and ZL aredefined as before and ZED corresponds to the position of the OCTreference path length stage) are determined within a measurement volumefor the tomography system (such as the OCT system) so as to providecorresponding X, Y and Z locations of the eye or patient interface. Thelocations can be determined based on mapping and LUTs, for example. Thetomography system may comprise one or more of an OCT system, a confocalsystem, a Scheimpflug system, an ultrasound system, or a high frequencyultrasound system, for example. The mapped locations can depend on thelocation and shape of the optically transmissive structure such as lens96, the distance 162, distance 164, and the distance 168, for example.The mapping locations may also depend on the light sourcecharacteristics such as wavelength, spectral bandwidth, andpolarization. The mapping locations may also depend on thecharacteristics of the optical system such as axial magnification,lateral magnification, numerical aperture, degree of telecentricity,aberration, and alignment.

At a step 315, values pixel X and pixel Y are determined within ameasurement volume for the video system so as to provide correspondingX, Y, and Z locations of the eye or patient interface. The locations canbe determined based on mapping and LUTs, for example. The video isprimarily a two-dimensional mapping of Xm, Ym to X, Y. Because of thelarge depth of field of the imaging path and the telecentric form, the Zlocation remains unchanged for the range of Z for which the image is infocus. Accurate Z location can be determined using the OCT rangingsystem or a priori knowledge. The mapped locations can depend on thelocation and shape of the optically transmissive structure such as lens96, the distance 162, distance 164, and the distance 168, for example.The mapping locations may depend on the characteristics of the opticalsystem such as axial magnification, lateral magnification, numericalaperture, degree of telecentricity, aberration, and alignment.

At a step 320, a generic LUT is determined for the position parametersof the system in response to targeted locations of the eye. The genericLUT can combine the above mapped values of Xm, Ym, ZL, & ZED based onone or more of distance 162, distance 164, distance 168, dimension 152,dimension 154 or dimension 156, and combinations thereof for example.The generic LUT can be constructed based on ray tracing or otheroptically based analysis such as diffraction or wave based or gaussianbeam propagation of the nominal optical components of the system and themovable components of the system to include the X galvo, the Ygalvo, theZ-telescope, the attenuator, and the chair, for example. The genericvalues of the LUT can map each eye coordinate location to a specificlocation or angle of each of the values of Xm, Ym, ZL, & ZED and othermachine controllable dimensions, for each of the UF laser, the OCTsystem and the video system and aim alignment, for example. Although aLUT is described, the mapping can be performed in one or more of manyways.

At a step 325, system specific corrections to the generic values aredetermined. The system specific LUT can be customized to themanufactured configuration of the system, and is capable ofaccommodating variation of the mapped components. The variation mayoccur with parts manufactured within specification but slightlydifferent from the generic or nominal system. For example, the opticalpower, placement and dimensions of the manufactured components maydiffer slightly from the generic system. The system specific LUT can begenerated based on the teachings described herein.

At a step 330, a system specific LUT(s) is determined based on thesystem specific corrections. The system specific LUT can be combinedwith the generic LUT in many ways, for example with corrections oradjustments comprising subtractions or additions and scalings to thegeneric LUT.

At a step 335, the system specific LUT is used to generate a lasertreatment of the eye so as to form laser generated incisions of the eye.The system specific LUT can be combined with a treatment tablecomprising a plurality of eye coordinate references, so as to providespecific instructions to components of the laser system for eachlocation of the eye treatment given variations in known dependenciessuch as from patient interface variations. The system specific LUT canbe used to generate values of UF Xm, UF Ym, and UF ZL in order tocontrol the positions of the corresponding components.

At a step 340, the system specific LUT is used to generate tomographyvalues, such as values of OCT Xm, OCT Ym, OCT ZL and ZED values, so asto control Galvo Xm, Galvo Ym, Galvo Zm, and the OCT reference pathlength in order to image the eye and patient interface given variationsin known dependencies such as from patient interface variations. Thesystem specific LUT can be used to generate values of OCT Xm, OCT Ym,OCT ZL in order to control the positions of the corresponding componentsand ensure that the physical locations of the eye structures and patientinterface are accurately mapped.

At a step 345, the system specific LUT is used to generate the Pixel Xand Pixel Y values corresponding to the given X, Y, Z, and CL thicknessand displacement values used to form an image of the eye and patientinterface on the camera sensor array, and so as to accurately map theeye structures to three dimensional space in accordance with eyecoordinate reference system 150.

Although the above steps show method 300 of calibrating in accordancewith embodiments, a person of ordinary skill in the art will recognizemany variations based on the teaching described herein. The steps may becompleted in a different order. Steps may be added or deleted. Some ofthe steps may comprise sub-steps. Many of the steps may be repeated asoften as if beneficial to the treatment.

One or more of the steps of the method 300 may be performed with thecircuitry as described herein, for example one or more of the processoror logic circuitry such as the programmable array logic for fieldprogrammable gate array. The circuitry may be programmed to provide oneor more of the steps of method 300, and the program may comprise programinstructions stored on a computer readable memory or programmed steps ofthe logic circuitry such as the programmable array logic or the fieldprogrammable gate array, for example.

FIG. 6 shows an eye coordinate reference system 150 referenced to alower surface of an optically transmissive structure as part of apatient interface. The optically transmissive structure may comprise aflat plate, or a lens having one or more curved surfaces. In manyembodiments, the optically transmissive structure comprises lens 96. Theobjective lens 94 may comprise a plurality of achromatic infrareddoubles, for example three achromatic infrared doublets. The referencelocation 180 may comprise the origin of the coordinate system 150, andcan be located in one or more of many places, such as the posteriorsurface 96P of the optically transmissive structure, located opposite ananterior surface 96A of lens 96. The gap distance 168 between the corneaand posterior surface 96P can be within a range from about 1 to 10 mm,for example. The thickness 164 of the optically transmissive structurecan be within a range from about 1 to 20 mm, for example about 12 mm. Adistance 162 from the distal lower surface of the objective lens to theanterior surface 96A can be any suitable distance, for example within arange from about 10 mm to about 200 mm, for example about 20 mm. In manyembodiments, the patient interface assembly comprises single usedisposable structures to couple the optically transmissive structurecomprising lens 96 to objective lens 94 and retention ring 97 of thepatient interface assembly 14. The patient interface assembly maycomprise a support structure 14S in order to place the opticallytransmissive structure to provide distance 162 and distance 168 incombination with thickness 164. The support structure 14S may comprise astiff support so as to resist movement of the optically transmissivestructure and patient ring 97 when the patient moves, for example. Thesupport structure 14S may comprise an assembly of user combinablecomponents such as retention ring 97, and a docking cone 14C, and anextension 14E, for example. The docking cone 14C can receive the lens 96of the conic extension section 14E, for example.

Reference 180 location can be determined in one or more of many ways. Inmany embodiments, location 180 comprises an intersection of axis 99 withthe posterior surface 96P of the optically transmissive structure asdescribed herein. The location 180 may comprise a reference pointdetermined with axis 99. For example a location 180 can be located alongaxis 99 that intersects the posterior surface 96P based on the measuredsystem, and the location 180 may correspond to a distance of theposterior surface of the specific system lens as compared to the lowersurface of the generalized system. Alternatively, the location 180 maycomprise a distance from an internal structure of laser system 2 such asa mirror of the OCT system, or a distance from the surface of one of theobjective lenses such as the posterior surface of the achromaticobjective lens closest to the eye. The location of axis 99 can bedetermined based on system calibration, and the calibration may comprisedetermining a location of axis 99 that retro reflects the laser beam toa point of origin within system 2, for example. The axis 99 may comprisethe origin of the patient reference system 150, for example.

The deviation of the lower surface of a constructed system from thelocation of the generalized system can be determined and the values ofthe LUT determined accordingly.

The lens 96 may comprise a convexly curved posterior surface so as tourge gas bubbles to the periphery and away from the optical beam pathwhen the posterior surface 96P contacts a liquid interface fluid, suchone or more of water, saline, viscous fluid, or a viscoelastic fluid.The anterior surface 96A can be provided with a curved shape or a flatshape, for example. In many embodiments, the convexly curved lowersurface can extend the working range of the laser system so as toprovide optical breakdown over an increased range within the eye, forexample with combined corneal and cataract surgery. The dimensions oflens 96 can be determined so as to provide the extended range whenspaced apart from the cornea and combined with one or more doubletlenses by a person of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachingsdescribed herein. The negative lens of the Z-telescope optics maycomprise radii of curvature to provide the extended range of opticalbreakdown when combined with the lens 96 and the one or more achromaticobjective lenses. The aberrations can be controlled over the intendedimaging and cutting volume of the eye and patient interface due to thebalancing of contributions from the Z-telescope, the objective, and thecontact lens as a function of positions of the Z-telescope, the X & Ygalvos, and the variation of placement and thickness of the contact lensby a person of ordinary skill in the art of lens design.

The lens 96 can be configured to provide a different change in thenumerical aperture of the beam focus than a flat plate, for example. Inmany embodiments, the lens 96 contributes a relatively small amount offocusing power when the laser beam is scanned near the cornea. However,when the laser beam is scanned at locations deeper in the eye, forexample near the lens capsule, the lens 96 can provide a greater affecton the beam focus than when the beam is focused near the cornea, so asto further change the numerical aperture of the laser beam, for example.

FIG. 7A shows a look up table 210 for an UF laser as described herein.The LUT 210 may comprise a plurality of discrete input values 212 over arange, for example four values such as X, Y, Z of patient coordinatereference system and distance CL of the lower surface of the lens, and aplurality of output values 214. The X and Y values of the eye can rangefrom −8 to 8 mm, in 0.25 mm increments, for example. The Z value canrange from 0 to 17 mm in 0.25 mm increments, for example. The CL valuecan range from −1 to 1 mm in 0.5 mm increments, for example. These fourdimensional input values can be input into processor system and anoutput machine value provide for each combined input. The output values214 of the look up table can be provided as Xm, Ym and ZL for eachcombined input value combination. The output of Xm and Ym can each bewithin a range from −8.59 degrees to 8.59 degrees of the correspondinggalvanometer mirror. The output value for ZL can be within a range from3.7 to 20.7 mm, for example. The total number of input and values of theLUT can be about 1,457,625 for each input comprising (X, Y, Z, CL) andeach output comprising (Xm, Ym, ZL), for example.

FIG. 7A1 shows an optical schematic of the components corresponding tothe LUT of FIG. 7A. The optical schematic shows the components asdescribed herein used to determine the LUT for the UF pulsed laser 64,for example with reference to FIG. 4A. The laser beam 66 can betransmitted through zoom optics 68 to a limiting aperture to determinebeam size 72. The limited beam proceeds to relay lenses 80 and then tothe optical Z-telescope lenses 84. The distance ZL is varied, and ZL canbe programmed into optical modeling software as described herein. Thebeam 66 is then transmitted to X and Y galvos 86, 88 to deflect the beampassed to the objective lenses 94 (hereinafter “OBJ”). The objectivelens 94 focuses the laser beam 66 toward the optically transmissivestructure, which may comprise a plate or lens 96 as described herein,for example. The distance from the objective lens 94 to the opticallytransmissive structure CLopt can be used to determine the location ofthe optical breakdown, and the thickness of the optically transmissivestructure (hereinafter “CLth”) can be used to determine the location ofoptical breakdown.

FIG. 7A2 shows input and output of the LUT as in FIGS. 7A and 7A1. Theinput parameters are the X, Y and Z locations of the optical breakdownwithin the mapped treatment volume, the distance from the objective lensto the anterior surface of the optically transmissive structure, and thethickness of the optically transmissive structure of the patientinterface. The output of the LUT comprises the X mirror position for theUF laser (hereinafter “Xm(UF)”), the Y mirror position for the UF laser(hereinafter “Ym(UF)”), and the position of the Z-telescope lens(hereinafter “ZL(UF)”)

FIG. 7A3 shows structure of the LUT via an excerpt of the LUT as inFIGS. 7A and 7A1. The LUT comprises a header 270, a body 271, andcolumns 272 corresponding to the mapped coordinates of the system asdescribed herein. Although a low resolution is shown the table maycomprise a high resolution table readily constructed by a person ofordinary skill in the art based on the teachings described herein.

The header 270 may comprise a description of the table and laser systemcomponents, for example. The header 270 may comprise the input andoutput parameters such as the output parameters Xm(UF) in degrees,Ym(UF) in degrees, ZL(UF) in mm, for the UF laser wavelength, and theheader 270 may comprise the input parameters such as the X, Y and Zcoordinates of treatment in the eye in millimeters, the thickness of theoptically transmissive structure CLth, and the position of the posteriorsurface of the optically transmissive structure CLopt,

The header 270 may comprise baseline expected locations and coordinatereferences of identifiable structures, such as reference locations ofthe origin of the coordinate reference system, the location of thecornea along the Z axis, the location of the limbus along the X axis andthe location of the limbus along the Y axis. The mapped positions of thesystem components can be provided for each of these input locations,such as the X and Y mirror positions, Xm(UF), Ym(UF). Also included inthe header 270 are the Z-telescope position ZL(UF), The ZED(UF) positionas shown in the figures, the delta Z value (hereinafter “Dz”) which maycomprise a correction, and the Strehl ratio which can be used todetermine the quality of beam focus and adjustment to the location ofoptical breakdown. One of the purposes of the header 270 is to provide asample of key points within the look up table. These key points may becompared to multiple executions of the model to generate the look uptable. These key points can be used as watch points to gain an overviewof the performance of the model run and can be used to determine thehealth or veracity of the look up table.

The Dz can be determined in one or more of many ways, and can bedetermined based on the computer modeling as described herein.Alternatively or in combination, the value of Dz can be determine basedon measurements of a constructed system as described herein, forexample.

The body 271 of the LUT may contain the values of the LUT. The valuescan be determined based on optical modeling as described herein. Eachvalue of the table may comprise a Step comprising a location of therecord of the table, ZL, X, Y and Z coordinates, CLopt, CLth, Xm(UF), Ym(UF), ZL (UF), a value Dz at the location, the Strehl ratio, and a flag.The flag may be indicative of the stability of the model run ingenerating the look up table. Dz for example can be used as a metric asto whether the model adequately converges to a solution. In general, thegeneric LUT is automatically generated using an optical program using amerit function and a set of variables to reduce a custom designed errorfunction. Dz is then calculated by the program using a different mode ordefinition of best focus. Ideally these would arrive at the samesolution but as the beam becomes more aberrated as a function ofposition these two methods may differ as expressed in Dz. The flag canthen be toggled to a set the value of Dz. For example, the flag mayequal 1 when the Dz is with 10 um or 0.010 in the table of FIG. 7A3 andset to 0 when outside this value. In this way, the automatic reading bysystem software of the LUT can using this value as an indication of theacceptable cut zone.

FIG. 7B shows a LUT 220 for an OCT system. The look up table 220 maycomprise a plurality of discrete input values 222 over a range, forexample four values such as X, Y, Z of patient coordinate referencesystem and distance CL of the lower surface of the lens, and a pluralityof discrete output values 224. The X and Y values of the eye can rangefrom −8 to 8 mm, in 0.25 mm increments, for example. The Z value canrange from 0 to 17 mm in 0.25 mm increments, for example. The CL valuecan range from −1 to 1 mm in 0.5 mm increments, for example. These fourdimensional input values can be input into processor system and anoutput machine value provide for each combined input. The output values224 of the look up table can be provided as Xm, Ym and ZL for eachcombined input value combination. The output of Xm and Ym can each bewithin a range from −8.59 degrees to 8.59 degrees of the correspondinggalvanometer mirror. The output value for ZL can be within a range from3.7 to 20.7 mm, for example. The output value of ZED of the OCT aim canbe provided based on the teaching described herein. The output value ZEDcan be configured to provide adjustment to the OCT arm over the fullrange of motion of the Z-telescope moving lens in order to providecoherence to the OCT system, for example. The total number of input ofthe LUT can be about 1,457,625 for each input comprising (X, Y, Z, CL)and each output comprising (Xm, Ym, ZL, ZED), for example. The outputand input mapping process can be switched. The OCT ranging system is ameasurement device used to find intended surfaces. In this way, thevalues of OCT Xm, OCT Ym, OCT Zl, and ZED are determined once thetargeted surface is located. These are used as input values to generateoutput values for X, Y, and Z for the location of the intended targetedstructure. These output values for X, Y, Z along with measured valuesfor CL can then be used as input to the UF LUT 212 to determine theoutput UF Xm, UF Ym, UF ZL for placing cuts.

FIG. 7B1 shows an optical schematic of the components corresponding tothe look up table of FIG. 7B. The optical schematic shows the componentsas described herein used to determine the LUT for the OCT system, forexample with reference to FIG. 4A. The measurement beam can betransmitted to a reference arm with a beam splitter 100. The portion ofthe beam 102 transmitted through the beam splitter 100 is transmitted tothe optical Z-telescope lenses 84. The distance ZL is varied, and ZL canbe programmed into optical modeling software as described herein. Thebeam 102 is then transmitted to X and Y galvos 86, 88 to deflect thebeam 102 passed to the objective lenses OBJ 94. The objective lens 94focuses the laser beam 102 toward the optically transmissive structure,which may comprise a plate or lens 96 as described herein, for example.The distance from the objective lens to the optically transmissivestructure CLopt can be used to determine the location of the measurementlocation corresponding to optical breakdown, and the thickness of theoptically transmissive structure CLth can be used similarly.

The OCT measurement may comprise an optical path length hereinafter(OPL) that can be referenced from one or more of many locations of theOCT measurement system, such as the output aperture from the lightsource of the OCT measurement beam.

FIG. 7B2 shows input and output of the LUT as in FIGS. 7B and 7B1. Theinput parameters are the Xm, Ym and ZL locations of the OCT measurementbeam within the mapped treatment volume, the distance from the objectivelens to the anterior surface of the optically transmissive structureCLopt, the thickness of the optically transmissive structure of thepatient interface, CLth, and the location of measurement arm ZED(OCT).The output of the LUT comprises the X position for the OCT measurementbeam (hereinafter “X(OCT)”), the Y position for the OCT measurement beam(hereinafter “Y(OCT)”), and the Z position (hereinafter “Z(OCT)”) forthe OCT measurement beam.

FIG. 7B3 shows structure of the LUT as in FIGS. 7B and 7B 1. The LUTcomprises a header 273, a body 274, and columns 275 corresponding to themapped coordinates of the system as described herein. Although a lowresolution is shown the table may comprise a high resolution tablereadily constructed by a person of ordinary skill in the art based onthe teachings described herein.

The header 273 may comprise a description of the table and laser systemcomponents, for example. The header 273 may comprise parameters such asXm(OCT) in degrees, Ym(OCT) in degrees, ZL(OCT) in mm, for the OCT laserwavelength, and the header 273 may comprise the parameters such as theX, Y and Z coordinates of the measurement beam in the eye inmillimeters, the thickness of the optically transmissive structure CLth,and the position of the posterior surface of the optically transmissivestructure CLopt from the posterior surface of the objective lens. One ofthe purposes of the header 273 is to provide a sample of key pointswithin the LUT. These key points may be compared to multiple executionsof the model to generate the LUT. These key points can be used as watchpoints to gain an overview of the performance of the model run and canbe used to determine the health or veracity of the LUT.

The header 273 may comprise baseline locations and coordinate referencesof identifiable structures, such as reference locations of the origin ofthe coordinate reference system, the location of the cornea along the Zaxis, the location of the limbus along the X axis and the location ofthe limbus along the Y axis. The mapped positions of the systemcomponents can be provided for each of these locations, such as the Xand Y mirror positions, Xm(OCT), Ym(OCT). Also included in the headerare the z-telescope position ZL(OCT), the ZED(OCT) position as shown inthe figures, the delta Z value (hereinafter “Dz”) which may comprise acorrection, and the Strehl ratio which can be used to determine thequality of measurement beam focus.

The OCT Dz can be determined in one or more of many ways, and can bedetermined based on the computer modeling as described herein.Alternatively or in combination, the value of Dz can be determine basedon measurements of a constructed system as described herein, forexample. The value of the OCT Dz may comprise a map from the measuredOCT location to the optical breakdown location, for example.

The body 274 of the LUT may contain the values of the LUT. The valuescan be determined based on optical modeling as described herein. Eachvalue of the table may comprise a step comprising a location of therecord of the table, ZL, X, Y and Z coordinate, CLopt, CLth, Xm(OCT), Ym(OCT), ZL (OCT), a value Dz at the location, the Strehl ratio, and aflag. The flag may be indicative of the stability of the model run ingenerating the look up table. Dz for example can be used as a metric asto whether the model adequately converges to a solution. In general, thegeneric LUT is automatically generated using a optical program using amerit function and a set of variables to reduce a custom designed errorfunction. Dz is then calculated by the program using a different mode ordefinition of best focus. Ideally these would arrive at the samesolution but as the beam becomes more aberrated as a function ofposition these two methods may differ as expressed in Dz. A flag canthen be toggled to a set the value of Dz. For example, the flag mayequal 1 when the Dz is with 10 um or 0.010 in the table of FIG. 7B3 andset to 0 when outside this value. In this way, the automatic reading bysystem software of the LUT can using this value as an indication of theacceptable cut zone.

FIG. 7C shows a LUT 230 for a video camera. The LUT 230 may comprise aplurality of discrete input values 232 over a range, for example fourvalues such as X, Y, Z of patient coordinate reference system anddistance CL of the lower surface of the lens, and a plurality ofdiscrete output values 234. The X and Y values of the eye can range from−9 to 9 mm, in 1 mm increments, for example. The Z value can range from6 to 10 mm in 1 mm increments, for example. The CL value can range from−1 to 1 mm in 0.5 mm increments, for example. These four dimensionalinput values can be input into processor system and an output machinevalue provide for each combined input. The output values 234 of the LUTcan be provided as Pixel X, Pixel Y, and the range of Pixel X and PixelY can each be from about −543 pixels to about 543 pixels. The output andinput mapping process can be switched. The video system is a measurementdevice used to find intended surfaces. The video system is also used astarget aid for the user to place cuts. In these ways, the values ofPixel X and Pixel Y are determined using the video image. The values ofPixel X and Pixel Y along with either assumptions or measurements madefor Z and CL are used as input values to generate output values for X,Y, and Z for the location of the intended targeted structure. The outputvalues for X, Y, Z along with measured values for CL can then be used asinput to the UF LUT 212 to determine the output UF Xm, UF Ym, UF ZL forplacing cuts.

The LUT 210, the LUT 220, and the LUT 230 can be combined in one or moreof many ways to treat the patient. Further, inverse LUTs can bedetermined so as to map from machine parameters to parameter of the eye.In many embodiments, the OCT LUT 220 is used to image the eye andpatient interface with OCT at a series of discrete OCT locations basedon commands to the laser system to in order to scan a target region ofthe eye. The scan data for the locations of the eye can then be inputinto the LUT 210 for treatment table generation and planning, and thepatient treated with the output 214 from treatment table 210.

The data for each LUT can be interpolated, for example with knowninterpolation methods. For example, the interpolation may compriselinear interpolation based on values of closest neighbors provided tothe look up table. The LUT can be extrapolated to extend the ranges.

The LUTs as described herein are provided in accordance with examples,and a person of ordinary skill in the art will recognize manyalternatives and variations.

FIG. 7C1 shows an optical schematic of the components corresponding tothe LUT of FIG. 7C. The optical system forms an image on the cameraarray 276 comprising x pixels at x pixel locations (hereinafter “Pix X”)and y pixels at y pixel locations (hereinafter Pix Y). The image isformed with a plurality of fixed focus lenses 278. The image beam 282passes through an aperture stop 280 located between the fixed focuslenses 278 to arrive at the sensor array 276. A field stop 284 isprovided along with another fixed focus lens 286 optically coupled tothe objective lenses 94. The patient interface and distances aredescribed herein.

FIG. 7C2 shows input and output of the LUT as in FIGS. 7C and 7C1. Theinput comprises the measured Pix X and Pix Y coordinate references ofthe CCD array. The input may also comprise the Z focus location of theeye, and the CLopt and CLth parameters. The output comprises the X and Ycoordinate references of the eye at the input Z depth.

FIG. 7C3 shows the structure of the LUT as in FIGS. 7C to 7C2. Althougha low resolution table is shown, the high resolution table can readilybe constructed by a person of ordinary skill in the art based on theteachings described herein. The structure of the table comprises aheader 287 and a body 288 comprising columns 289 of the table.

The header 287 may comprise the input and output parameters for thewavelength of the video imaging system. The parameters may comprise theX, Y and Z locations of the imaging system within the eye and theparameters may comprise the corresponding X pixels (Pix X) and Y pixels(Pix Y). The header 287 may comprise coordinate reference locationscorresponding to tissue structures of the eye, such as the iris or thelimbus, for example. The coordinate reference locations may comprise alocation within the eye along the axis of the system at coordinates X=0,Y=0 and Z=8 mm, for example. The corresponding mapped X and Y pixelcoordinates for X=5 mm and Y=5 mm can be provided at pixel coordinatelocations of approximately 303 pixels, respectively, for example. One ofthe purposes of the header 287 is to provide a sample of key pointswithin the LUT. These key points may be compared to multiple executionsof the model to generate the LUT. These key points can be used as watchpoints to gain an overview of the performance of the model run and canbe used to determine the health or veracity of the LUT.

The body 288 of the LUT may comprise the Pixel X, Pixel Y, Z, CLopt,Clth, input parameters. The output of the LUT may comprise the output Xand Y locations for each input record, for example. The correspondingdiameter of the spot can be provided at each location in pixels, and alogic flag can be provided for each location. The logic flag maycomprise one or more of many logic signals, and may correspond towhether the image of tissue is to be provided at the location, orwhether the focus of the treatment beam at the mapped X Pix and Y Pixlocation is suitable for treatment, for example,

FIG. 8 shows a calibration apparatus 400 to measure and map opticalbreakdown locations along the UF laser beam path of system 2. Themeasured optical breakdown can be performed at the factory prior toshipping the laser system, or in the field, or combinations thereof, forexample. The apparatus 400 may comprise components of patient interfaceassembly 14, a container 410, a beam blacker 415, a transducer tomeasure optical breakdown such as hydrophone 420, and a translationstage 430. The patient interface assembly 14 and a can be used tomeasure the optical breakdown along the laser beam path, and maycomprise the support 14S coupled to the extension 14E so as to place theoptically transmissive structure which may comprise lens 96 at alocation along axis 99. In many embodiments, the reference location 180can be established based on measurements of posterior surface with thetomography system such as the OCT system as described herein. The OCTsystem can be previously calibrated so that the ranging numbers areaccurate and are used for this calibration. An example of prior OCTcalibration includes a set of mechanically referenced distances in waterand glass. These standards are used to find the optical path length as afunction of X, Y, & Z. These standards can be a set of tools at setdistances, reticles with calibrated scales, materials of knownthicknesses, and material of known refractive index. The measurement ofknown distances and positions can be used to find the group index foreach material. This group index and therefore calibrated ranging arethen used as part of this calibration procedure to determine accurate X,Y, Z positions. The distance CL can be established as part of thiscalibration process, and the LUTs determined based at least in part onthe measured value of CL for the text apparatus.

The container 410 may comprise any suitable container such as a beaker.The container may contain a suitable liquid to model optical breakdownwithin the eye, such as water, saline, a viscous material, or aviscoelastic material, for example. The material may have the phasegroup index known in a previous calibration step so that the OCT rangingsystem may be used to detect the absolute location of the immersedsurfaces. The beam block 415 comprises a beam absorbing material, forexample. The laser beam focused below the surface of the beam blockcannot provide optical breakdown in many embodiments. As the beam blockis lowered, the optical breakdown can be detected with the transducerwhich may comprise hydrophone 420. A person of ordinary skill in the artwill recognize that the transducer may comprise one or more of manysuitable transducers such as a hydrophone, a microphone, a piezoelectrictransducer, and one or more of many known transducers, for example.

The translation stage 430 may comprise a manual or automated translationstage with a micrometer 436 so as to accurately measure the position andchange of position of the upper surface of the block 415. Thetranslation stage 430 may comprise an upper platform 432, a lowerplatform 434 with portion of micrometer 436 coupled in between.

The calibration of the optical breakdown depth can be performed in manyways and can be performed at various energy levels. In some embodiments,the optical breakdown depth calibration can be performed after theenergy threshold mapping so that the energy used to calibrate the depthof the optical breakdown can be tailored for the location, for example.

The optical breakdown energy can be determined by setting the laser beamoutput to a desired energy level, for example with adjustment to theattenuator. The upper surface of the optical block can be raised to aposition above the target location. The laser can be scanned along atarget plane or other surface corresponding to the upper surface of theoptical block, and optical breakdown event measured with the hydrophone420. The optical surface distance and topology may be measured by theOCT system. The optical block can be lowered a useful amount, forexample 5 um. The scan along the plane can be performed again and thelocation of optical breakdown events determined, and in many embodimentsthe scan may not fire the laser at locations that have previouslyreceived optical breakdown to facilitate evaluation of the measurementdata. The optical block can be lowered further and additional scansrepeated until the depth optical breakdown as a function of depth hasbeen measured for each location of the scan pattern. The scan patternmay comprise one or more of many shapes, and may comprise a grid, forexample.

The optical breakdown for the individual laser system can be measured ata plurality of depths and transverse locations. In many embodiments, thelocation of optical breakdown along the laser beam path can be measuredwith plurality of planes and a grid pattern distributed substantiallyalong each plane so as to define an error surface for each plane. Forexample, depths of the UF LUT adjustment can be determined using thecalibrated OCT system at each of 5, 6.5, 8, 9.5, 11, and 12.5 mm fromthe reference location, for example. For the first three depthscorresponding to corneal locations, more data can be measured than thelast three depths corresponding to locations posterior to the cornea,for example.

The input may comprise the three dimensional location of a laser beampulse and the output may comprise the error from the expected targetdepth for the location of the laser beam pulse, which can be used toadjust the machine coordinate reference to provide optical breakdown atthe correct depth.

FIG. 9A shows a 450 map of a plurality of optical breakdown locations453 along the optical beam path deviating from a target or expecteddepth 452 corresponding to a plane near a vertex of a cornea. The planecan be located at a distance of 5 mm from the reference location 180along axis 99, for example. The plane distance may be measured using thepreviously calibrated OCT ranging system. The depths of the measuredoptical breakdown can deviate from the target depth of 5 mm by an amountshown in the legend. Although many of the values are within a range fromabout +0.125 mm to about −0.125 mm, the accuracy of the system can befurther improved with the adjustment to the target location as describedherein.

FIG. 9B shows map 450 of a plurality of optical breakdown locations 455along the optical beam path deviating from a target depth 454corresponding to a plane intersecting a cornea between a vertex of thecornea and the limbus of the eye. The limbus of the eye may comprisetissue near the intersection of the cornea and the sclera. The plane canbe located at a distance of 6.5 mm from the reference location 180 alongaxis 99, for example. The depths of the measured optical breakdown candeviate from the target depth of 6.5 mm by an amount shown in thelegend. Although many of the values are within a range from about +0.125mm to about −0.125 mm, the accuracy of the system can be furtherimproved with the adjustment to the target location as described herein.

FIG. 9C shows map 450 of optical breakdown at a plurality of locations457 along the optical beam path deviating from a target depth 456corresponding to a plane intersecting a peripheral portion of the cornealocated near the limbus of the eye. The plane can be located at adistance of 8 mm from the reference location 180 along axis 99, forexample. The depths of the measured optical breakdown can deviate fromthe target depth of 8 mm by an amount shown in the legend. Many of thevalues are within a range from about +0.125 mm to about 0.25 mm and theaccuracy of the system can be further improved with the adjustment tothe target location as described herein.

FIG. 9D shows error coefficients corresponding to depth errors over atreatment volume based on the measurements of FIGS. 9A to 9C, and maycomprise additional measurements at additional depths corresponding totreatment as described herein, for example. The error at a targetlocation comprising patient coordinate references of dimension 152,dimension 154 and dimension 156, for example X, Y, and Z, can beexpressed as a function of X, Y, and Z denoted as F(X,Y,Z). The functionF(X,Y,Z) may provide an amount of Z axis error of the optical breakdownalong the dimension 156 corresponding to the dimension of the laser beampath, for example. The shown coefficients are for a polynomial of theform:F(X,Y,Z)=C0+C1*X+C2*Y+C3*Z+C4*X^2+C5*Y^2+C6*X*Y

Where ‘*’ indicates multiplication and ‘^’ denotes exponential powersuch as a square. The polynomial may comprise one or more of many knownpolynomials such as Taylor or Zernike polynomials for example. In manyembodiments the polynomials can be used to generate lookup tables, forexample.

The function can include additional input, such as the distance CL ofthe location 180 from the target plane, the thickness of the lens 86,the energy of the laser and can be a four, five, or other dimensionalinput, for example. An example input to the Z axis error functionF(X,Y,Z,E) can be X, Y, Z and E, where E is the energy of the laser,which can be adjusted in many ways for the treatment, for example withthe attenuator. An example input to the Z axis error function F(X,Y,Z,CL) can be X, Y, Z and CL, where CL is the measured distance of theposterior surface of the optically transmissive structure such as theplate or lens 96, for example. The input may comprise the thickness ofthe optically transmissive structure CLTH, for example. In manyembodiments, the input to the Z axis error may comprise a 6 dimensionalinput X, Y, Z, E, CL and CLTH to a function F(X, Y, Z, E, CL, CLTH),which provides an output error of the optical breakdown along Z axisdimension 156, for example.

FIG. 10A shows verification of the correction based on correction of theerror coefficients as in FIG. 9D. The map 460 of optical breakdownlocations for the plurality of measurements 460 along the depth 464 of 5mm is shown. The laser system has been updated with LUTs to correct thevalues of the Z axis optical breakdown. The measurements can be repeatedat each of the measurement plans, for example at 5, 6.5, 8, 9.5, 11, and12.5 mm measurement planes and the errors fit to the polynomial. Thismeasured result shows a significant improvement in accuracy, and many ofthe measured values are within the range from +0.125 to −0.125 over amuch greater region of the measurement area.

FIG. 10B shows error coefficients corresponding to depth correctionsover a treatment volume comprising the depth shown in FIG. 10A and theadditional measurement depths along planes. The coefficients are muchsmaller, showing that the depth correction has worked.

FIG. 11 shows a method 500 of cutting tissue in response to thresholdenergy mapping as described herein.

At a step 510, optical breakdown energy cutting thresholds aredetermined for laser ranges in a plurality of dimensions as describedherein, and the threshold energy can be mapped to a plurality ofdimensions comprising the X, Y and Z dimensions, for example. Theoptical breakdown threshold energies can be combined with the systemspecific Z-axis calibration as described herein, for example. The energythreshold mapping can be determined with ray tracing or other opticalmodeling for a general system and used for many systems. Alternativelyor in combination, the optical breakdown threshold energy mapping can besystem specific.

At a step 515, LUTs are generated for the cutting threshold levels ateach location, and can include additional laser parameters and patientinterface parameters as described herein. The LUTs can be determinedbased on the mapping of the threshold amounts of energy as describedherein.

At a step 520, the LUT is used to generate the laser energy treatmentamounts corresponding to the given X, Y, and Z values of the treatment,and additional values. The cutting threshold levels can be used todetermine the laser energy at each location, and the treatment energycan be increased above the threshold level at each location so as toprovide cutting with a safety margin above the threshold level. Thecutting margin may comprise an amount, or a ratio such as a percentageabove the threshold amount. For example, the threshold margin maycomprise a 1 uJ increase in the pulse energy from the laser added to themapped amount. Alternatively or in combination, the threshold margin maycomprise a multiplier, for example a 1.5× multiplier that increases theamount of energy by 50% at a location based on the threshold energy atthe pulse location. The LUTs as described herein can be used to readilydetermine the threshold amount of energy at a location, and the look uptables can be calculated so as to comprise the amount above threshold.Alternatively or in combination, the increase above the mapped thresholdenergy can be provided on a location by location basis.

The laser is pulsed with the energy adjusted in response to the mappedenergy. The laser scan pattern can be configured to treat neighboringareas having similar amounts of energy, for example. Alternatively, thelaser attenuator may comprise a fast laser attenuator, such as agalvanometer mounted attenuator, a prismatic attenuator, or anelectronic switch, such that the laser pulse energy can be adjusteddynamically across a scan of the eye, for example a scan along adirection with the X or Y galvo. A person of ordinary skill in the artwill recognize many adaptations and variations of the scan pattern basedon the teachings described herein so as to provide rapid scanning withrapid energy changes to the laser beam pulses in response to the mappedenergy.

Although the above steps show method 500 of cutting tissue in responseto threshold energy mapping in accordance with embodiments, a person ofordinary skill in the art will recognize many variations based on theteaching described herein. The steps may be completed in a differentorder. Steps may be added or deleted. Some of the steps may comprisesub-steps. Many of the steps may be repeated as often as is beneficialto the treatment.

One or more of the steps of the method 500 may be performed with thecircuitry as described herein, for example one or more of the processoror logic circuitry such as the programmable array logic for fieldprogrammable gate array. The circuitry may be programmed to provide oneor more of the steps of method 500, and the program may comprise programinstructions stored on a computer readable memory or programmed steps ofthe logic circuitry such as the programmable array logic or the fieldprogrammable gate array, for example.

Other apparatus may be used to attain similar calibration. An example isa series of glass tools with known material index and thickness. Thetools surfaces radius and thickness can be chosen to simulate distancesand behavior of the system when immersed in water and tissue. The focusor minimum spot location can be determined by damaging a sacrificiallayer at the desired depth. This sacrificial layer can be a glue oradhesive layer used to bond a reticle or other piece of glass. Theminimum spot location may then be related to the tissue breakdown depthlocation. Minimum spot location or best focus location or breakdownlocation can be determined as a function of X, Y, and Z coordinates. TheX & Y coordinates can be ascertained by the placement of a calibratedscaled reticle at the desired depth. The advantage of such an apparatusis that all the subsystems including the UF, the OCT, the aim, and thevideo can be calibrated with respect to the independently measured setof depth tools with reticles. The disadvantage is the use of asacrificial surface such as a cement adhesive coating thereby limitingthe number of uses.

Alternative to using the error coefficients as correction factors to thegeneric or nominal look up tables is to use the error information tore-generate the baseline look up table. The error information can beused to adjust parameters used to generate the original generic LUT. Anexample is to use the error and compare the fit of the original LUT,then choosing different parameters to reduce this fit error. Parametersthat may be adjusted include focal length of lenses, position of opticalcomponents, and alignment of optical components. An optical model thatis used to generate the generic look up table uses these new parametersto re-compute the LUT. The advantage of this technique is the behaviorof the location of the breakdown will follow optical rules and physicsas dictated by the simulation constraints. Interpolation andextrapolation beyond anchored data points may be more reasonable. Thedisadvantage to this technique is that it can be difficult and requireexpert knowledge in lens design and use of production unfriendly designsoftware.

FIG. 12 shows an apparatus 400 to map energy thresholds of a lasersystem 2. The apparatus 400 may comprise the container 410, hydrophone420, patient interface assembly 14, and other components as describedherein. The laser system 2 can be programmed to provide a scan patternat a plurality of depths similar to the depth mapping as describedherein. The laser output energy can be adjusted with the attenuator toan amount below the threshold. The laser can be scanned along a planeand the energy increased until optical breakdown is measured at aparticular location. The depth Z and lateral location X & Y are knownfrom previous calibrations. These previous calibrations may be conductedas part of the alignment of the optical system. The previouslycalibrated locations can be determined by using a set of glass tools ofmaterial with known index and surface radius so as to simulate X, Y & Zlocations in water and tissue. These previous calibrations can beconsidered coarse or rough and applied in tandem to generic look uptables generated by an optical program using nominal values for beamtrain components. An example of such a rough calibration is to adjustthe offset between the expect focus value of the UF beam on axis to thelocation of the focus as indicated by the damage to a sacrificial gluelayer on a mechanically calibrated tool by adjusting the ZL value of theZ-telescope. A deviation from the expected can be due to deviations fromthe nominal in regards to placement of the lenses in the Z-telescope,placement of the encoder for the ZL mechanism, and deviations from theminimal collimation conditions of the beam entering the z-telescope.Once optical breakdown has been measured at a particular location, thelaser scanning pattern can be controlled so as not to fire furtherpulses at a location where optical breakdown has been measured. The scanpattern can be repeated and the output energy of the laser adjusteduntil the optical breakdown energy has been measured at each location ofthe scan pattern. The depth of the scan pattern can be adjusted furtherand additional scans at addition depths measured so as to map theoptical breakdown threshold over a volume capable of treating a volumeof an organ or a plurality of tissues, such as one or more of thecornea, the anterior capsule, the cortex, the nucleus, or the posteriorcapsule, for example. Once this mapping of threshold value over thevolume is accomplished then the calibration of the threshold depthlocation as described previously can be applied to fine tune the Zlocation of the cutting. This can be considered a fine adjustment of thecalibration procedure and necessary for attaining cut accuracy to belowthe 100 μm level.

FIG. 13A shows mapped threshold energies 600 corresponding to thresholdenergies along a plane 610 anterior to an eye. The plane 610 maycorrespond to a distance of 3 mm from the posterior surface of theoptically transmissive structure of the patient interface, for example.The mapped threshold energies comprise a range of values from 1 uJ(micro Joule) to about 7 uJ (micro Joule). The inner central portioncomprises the lowest optical breakdown threshold energies, and the outerperipheral portion comprises the highest threshold energies, for example7 uJ. The focus of the laser beam with system optics can be related tothe threshold energy, for example. Other aspects of the system such asreflectance, numerical aperture, prism and beam clipping can be relatedto changes in the amount of laser energy released to provide the opticalbreakdown. The calibration as described herein can be capable ofaccommodating substantial variability in the amount of output laserenergy to produce optical breakdown.

FIG. 13B shows mapped threshold energies 600 corresponding to a plane620 intersecting a cornea of an eye. The plane 620 may correspond to adistance of 10 mm from the posterior surface of the opticallytransmissive structure of the patient interface, for example. The mappedthreshold energies comprise a range of values from 1 uJ (micro Joule) toabout 5 uJ (micro Joule). The inner central portion comprises the lowestoptical breakdown threshold energies, and the outer peripheral portioncomprises the highest threshold energies, for example 5 uJ. The locationof the depth in the intermediate zone provides decreased changes inoptical breakdown thresholds as compared with at least some locationscloser to the system and farther from the system.

FIG. 13C shows mapped threshold energies 600 corresponding to a plane630 near a posterior lens capsule. The plane 630 may correspond to adistance of 17 mm from the posterior surface of the opticallytransmissive structure of the patient interface, for example. The mappedthreshold energies comprise a range of values from 1 uJ (micro Joule) toabout 7 uJ (micro Joule). The inner central portion comprises the lowestoptical breakdown threshold energies, and the outer peripheral portioncomprises the highest threshold energies, for example 7 uJ. The locationof the depth in the intermediate zone provides decreased changes inoptical breakdown thresholds as compared with at least some locationscloser to the system and farther from the system.

FIG. 14 shows a method 700 of measuring alignment of a laser system.

At a step 710, the cutting laser is used to incise an alignment testpattern in an alignment test piece.

At a step 720, the alignment test pattern is imaged. Imaging can beaccomplished for example by the video and the OCT systems.

At a step 730, the image of the alignment test pattern is displayed.

At a step 740, an image corresponding to acceptable tolerance limits isdisplayed for the alignment test pattern for comparison.

At a step 750, user input is obtained regarding whether the alignmenttest pattern is within acceptable tolerance limits.

Although the above steps show method 700 of measuring in accordance withembodiments, a person of ordinary skill in the art will recognize manyvariations based on the teaching described herein. The steps may becompleted in a different order. Steps may be added or deleted. Some ofthe steps may comprise sub-steps. Many of the steps may be repeated asoften as if beneficial to the treatment.

One or more of the steps of the method 700 may be performed with thecircuitry as described herein, for example one or more of the processoror logic circuitry such as the programmable array logic for fieldprogrammable gate array. The circuitry may be programmed to provide oneor more of the steps of method 700, and the program may comprise programinstructions stored on a computer readable memory or programmed steps ofthe logic circuitry such as the programmable array logic or the fieldprogrammable gate array, for example.

FIG. 15A shows a test pattern 800 to measure alignment of laser system.The test pattern comprises a cut pattern 810 along a first axis 812, asecond axis 814, a third axis 816, and a fourth axis 818. The cutpattern can be overlaid with a video image 820, for example. The videoimage may comprise a corresponding pattern with tolerances, for example.Alternatively, a calibration card can be provided with the tolerancesprovided on the card.

The cut can be compared to the reference pattern of the video overlay orcard, for example. The cut pattern may comprise an end 824, and theoverlay may comprise an end 822. The ends along the axis and thealignment of the cut pattern with the axis can be compared so as toevaluate system alignment.

FIG. 15B shows a test eye 830 to measure alignment and energy of thelaser system. The test eye may comprise components similar to a humaneye, for example. The test eye may comprise an opaque material 842 thatdefines a pupil which can be imaged with the system. The test eye 830comprises a curved surface 840 formed in an optically transparentmaterial having a curvature similar to the cornea. The curvature maycomprise a radius within a range from about 6 mm to about 9 mm, forexample. A container may contain a liquid 168, for example. The patientinterface lens 96 can be placed on top of the test eye 830. The test eye830 may comprise components of the patient interface assembly 14 asdescribed herein, for example. The test eye 830 can be configured toreceive components of the patient interface assembly such as one or moreof the support 14S, the docking cone 14C, or the conic extension section14S, for example.

The laser can be programmed in one or more of many ways to allow theuser to test the system. For example, the laser can be programmed toprovide a spiral pattern of optical breakdown to transect the surface.When a portion of the treatment has passed from the opticallytransparent material to above the material, optical breakdown andgassing may occur. The optical breakdown and gassing can be configuredto occur during a time of the treatment, for example half way throughthe treatment. The acceptable tolerances for the observation of theonset of gas can be provided, for example within about 30% of thetreatment time to about 70% of the treatment time. The laser system canbe configured to determine a pass or fail based on user input, suchentering the time when breakdown passed through the surface 840, forexample.

FIG. 16 shows a method 900 of treating a patient, in accordance withmany embodiments.

Examples of tissue treatment methods and apparatus suitable forcombination in accordance with embodiments as described herein aredescribed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/510,148, filed Jul. 27,2009, and Ser. No. 11/328,970, filed on Jan. 9, 2006, both entitled“METHOD OF PATTERNED PLASMA-MEDIATED LASER TREPHINATION OF THE LENSCAPSULE AND THREE DIMENSIONAL PHACO-SEGMENTATION”, in the name ofBlumenkranz et al., the full disclosures of which are incorporatedherein by reference.

At a step 905, a laser is calibrated for use with interface lens inaccordance with method of FIG. 5.

At a step 910, cutting threshold energies are mapped in accordance withmethod of FIG. 11.

At a step 915, prior to treatment laser calibration is tested inaccordance with method of FIG. 14.

At a step 920, patient data are received as described herein.

At a step 925, corneal access incisions are determined.

At a step 930, a corneal access incision treatment table is determinedbased on optical breakdown mapping and energy threshold mapping asdescribed herein.

At a step 935, corneal refractive incisions are determined.

At a step 940, a conical refractive incision treatment table isdetermined based on optical breakdown mapping and energy thresholdmapping as described herein.

At a step 945, anterior capsule access incisions are determined such ascapsulorhexis.

At a step 950, an anterior access treatment table is determined based onoptical breakdown mapping and energy threshold mapping as describedherein.

At a step 955, a volumetric phaco fragmentation scanning pattern isdetermined.

At a step 960, a phaco fragmentation treatment table is determined basedon optical breakdown mapping and energy threshold mapping as describedherein.

At a step 965, the patient is placed on the support.

At a step 970, the interface lens is coupled to the patient and thelaser.

At a step 975, a location of interface lens is measured along theoptical path.

At a step 980, an optical breakdown pattern is scanned with treatmenttables to treat the patient.

At a step 985, the remainder of eye surgery is completed.

Although the above steps show method 900 of treating a patient inaccordance with embodiments, a person of ordinary skill in the art willrecognize many variations based on the teaching described herein. Thesteps may be completed in a different order. Steps may be added ordeleted. Some of the steps may comprise sub-steps. Many of the steps maybe repeated as often as if beneficial to the treatment.

One or more of the steps of the method 900 may be performed with thecircuitry as described herein, for example one or more of the processoror logic circuitry such as the programmable array logic for fieldprogrammable gate array. The circuitry may be programmed to provide oneor more of the steps of method 900, and the program may comprise programinstructions stored on a computer readable memory or programmed steps ofthe logic circuitry such as the programmable array logic or the fieldprogrammable gate array, for example.

The methods and apparatus as described herein are suitable forcombination with one or more components of laser eye surgery systemsthat are under development or commercially available such as:

an adaptive patient interface is described in Patent Cooperation TreatyPatent Application (hereinafter “PCT”) PCT/US2011/041676, published asWO 2011/163507, entitled “ADAPTIVE PATIENT INTERFACE”;

a device and method for aligning an eye with a surgical laser aredescribed in PCT/IB2006/000002, published as WO 2006/09021, entitled“DEVICE AND METHOD FOR ALIGNING AN EYE WITH A SURGICAL LASER”;

a device and method for aligning an eye with a surgical laser aredescribed in PCT/IB2006/000002, published as WO 2006/09021, entitled“DEVICE AND METHOD FOR ALIGNING AN EYE WITH A SURGICAL LASER”;

an apparatus for coupling an element to the eye is described in U.S.application Ser. No. 12/531,217, published as U.S. Pub. No.2010/0274228, entitled “APPARATUS FOR COUPLING AN ELEMENT TO THE EYE”;and

a servo controlled docking force device for use in ophthalmicapplications is described in U.S. application Ser. No. 13/016,593,published as U.S. Pub. No. US 2011/0190739, entitled “SERVO CONTROLLEDDOCKING FORCE DEVICE FOR USE IN OPHTHALMIC APPLICATIONS”.

With the teachings described herein, a person of ordinary skill in theart can modify the above referenced devices to practice many of theembodiments described herein.

While preferred embodiments of the present disclosure have been shownand described herein, it will be obvious to those skilled in the artthat such embodiments are provided by way of example only. Numerousvariations, changes, and substitutions will be apparent to those skilledin the art without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.It should be understood that various alternatives to the embodiments ofthe present disclosure described herein may be employed withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scopeof the present invention shall be defined solely by the scope of theappended claims and the equivalents thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus to treat an eye, the apparatuscomprising: a pulsed laser to generate pulses of light energy; anoptical delivery system coupled to the laser; a processor coupled to thepulsed laser and the optical delivery system, the processor configuredto generate a treatment table having a plurality of columns including:columns of input parameters comprising a plurality of three dimensionaltarget locations of the eye, and columns of output parameters comprisingcorresponding values of adjustable control parameters of the opticaldelivery system for directing the pulses of laser energy to the threedimensional target locations of the eye, and wherein the processor isfurther configured to adjust the laser beam pulse energy at theplurality of three dimensional target locations of the eye in responseto a look up table which maps the plurality of three dimensional targetlocations of the eye to a corresponding plurality of threshold amountsof laser beam energy to induce optical breakdown at the plurality ofthree dimensional target locations of the eye.
 2. The apparatus of claim1, wherein the processor is configured to determine the plurality ofthreshold amounts of laser beam energy to induce optical breakdown atthe plurality of three dimensional target locations and in responsethereto to create the lookup table.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinthe treatment table further includes a header, wherein the headercomprises three dimensional coordinates of reference locations ofidentifiable structures, and values of adjustable control parameters ofthe optical delivery system for directing the pulses of laser energy tothe reference locations.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein thereference locations include a location of the cornea of the eye along aZ axis, a location of the limbus of the eye along an X axis and alocation of the limbus of the eye along a Y axis.
 5. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the columns of input parameters in the treatment tableinclude a column of X coordinates, a column of Y coordinates, and acolumn of Z coordinates of the three dimensional target locations of theeye.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the optical delivery systemincludes an X scan mirror to scan the pulsed laser beam to different Xcoordinates in the eye, a Y scan mirror to scan the pulsed laser beam todifferent Y coordinates in the eye, and a Z-telescope to direct thepulsed laser beam to different depths in the eye, and wherein thecolumns of output parameters includes an X scan column of positions ofthe X-scan mirror, a Y scan column of positions of the Y-scan mirror,and a Z-telescope column of positions of the Z-telescope.
 7. Anapparatus to treat an eye, the apparatus comprising: a laser to generatea plurality of laser beam pulses; an optical delivery system to deliverthe plurality of laser beam pulses to a plurality of three dimensionaltarget locations of the eye; a processor coupled to the laser and theoptical delivery system, the processor configured to determine athreshold amount of an output pulse energy of the laser to provideoptical breakdown within the eye for each of a plurality of threedimensional target locations of the eye, wherein the processor isconfigured to generate a treatment table having a plurality of columnsincluding: columns of input parameters comprising a plurality of threedimensional target locations of the eye, and columns of outputparameters comprising values of adjustable control parameters of theoptical delivery system for directing the pulses of laser energy to thethree dimensional target locations of the eye, and wherein the processoris further configured to adjust the output pulse energy of the laserbelow the threshold amount for each of the plurality of threedimensional target locations of the eye in order to provide opticalbreakdown within the eye.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein thetreatment table further includes a header, wherein the header comprisesthree dimensional coordinates of reference locations of identifiablestructures, and values of adjustable control parameters of the opticaldelivery system for directing the pulses of laser energy to thereference locations.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the referencelocations include a location of the cornea of the eye along a Z axis, alocation of the limbus of the eye along an X axis and a location of thelimbus of the eye along a Y axis.
 10. The apparatus of claim 7, whereinthe columns of input parameters in the treatment table include a columnof X coordinates, a column of Y coordinates, and a column of Zcoordinates of the three dimensional target locations of the eye. 11.The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the optical delivery system includesan X scan mirror to scan the pulsed laser beam to different Xcoordinates in the eye, a Y scan mirror to scan the pulsed laser beam todifferent Y coordinates in the eye, and a Z-telescope to direct thepulsed laser beam to different depths in the eye, and wherein thecolumns of output parameters includes an X scan column of positions ofthe X-scan mirror, a Y scan column of positions of the Y-scan mirror,and a Z-telescope column of positions of the Z-telescope.
 12. Theapparatus of claim 7, wherein the columns of input parameters in thetreatment table include a column of X coordinates, a column of Ycoordinates, and a column of Z coordinates of the three dimensionaltarget locations of the eye.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein theoptical delivery system includes an X scan mirror to scan the pulsedlaser beam to different X coordinates in the eye, a Y scan mirror toscan the pulsed laser beam to different Y coordinates in the eye, and aZ-telescope to direct the pulsed laser beam to different depths in theeye, and wherein the columns of output parameters includes an X scancolumn of positions of the X-scan mirror, a Y scan column of positionsof the Y-scan mirror, and a Z-telescope column of positions of theZ-telescope.
 14. An apparatus to treat an eye, the apparatus comprising:a laser to generate a plurality of laser beam pulses; an opticaldelivery system comprising a movable lens to focus the plurality oflaser beam pulses to a plurality of depth locations of the eye; apatient interface to couple the optical delivery system to the eye, thepatient interface comprising an interface lens having an anteriorsurface and a convexly curved posterior surface; and a processorconfigured to adjust the movable lens to maintain focus of the laserbeam pulses at the plurality of depth locations of the eye based on ameasured location of the interface lens and mapped locations of the eye,wherein the processor is configured to generate a treatment table havinga plurality of columns including: columns of input parameters defining aplurality of three dimensional target locations of the eye, and columnsof output parameters comprising values of adjustable control parametersof the optical delivery system for directing the pulses of laser energyto the three dimensional target locations of the eye, and wherein theprocessor is further configured to adjust the laser beam pulse energy atthe plurality of three dimensional target locations of the eye inresponse to a look up table which maps the plurality of threedimensional target locations of the eye to a corresponding plurality ofthreshold amounts of laser beam energy to induce optical breakdown atthe plurality of three dimensional target locations of the eye.
 15. Theapparatus of claim 14, wherein the treatment table further includes aheader, wherein the header comprises three dimensional coordinates ofreference locations of identifiable structures, and values of adjustablecontrol parameters of the optical delivery system for directing thepulses of laser energy to the reference locations.
 16. The apparatus ofclaim 15, wherein the reference locations include a location of thecornea of the eye along a Z axis, a location of the limbus of the eyealong an X axis and a location of the limbus of the eye along a Y axis.